


Love and War

by TooObsessedForMyOwnGood



Series: The Angel Among Us [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, BTW, Because there's lots of fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, Depression, Did I mention fluff?, Don't Judge, Even more than the last book, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Fluff, For some reason I love doing tags, Gender-Neutral Frisk, I CAN STOP WHEN I WANT, I can't help it, I love writing fluffy stuff tho, I put spaghetti as a character, Its like an addiction, Multi, PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH LANGUAGE, Papyrus Being Papyrus, Protective Sans, Puns & Word Play, Reader Has A Name, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader could use a hug too, Reader has a certain look, Sad, Sans Needs A Hug, Souls, Things are gonna get crazy, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Undyne the Undying - Freeform, Unless you are judge judy, Yes all these characters will appear in the book this time, anyway, bad language, cursing, even the spaghetti, forgot to mention that, oh boy, oh well, oh yeah, so much fluff you guys, the damage is done, then u judge all u want, this is a sequel, thoughts, whoops, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-05-01 23:17:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14531511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooObsessedForMyOwnGood/pseuds/TooObsessedForMyOwnGood
Summary: As promised, I have returned today with the second book!If you are new to this series then I highly suggest you read the first 25 chapters of book one. It is very crucial to understanding the plot.But I'm not your mom, so do whatever you please!For those of you who have been with me since book one, WELCOME BACK!!!I'm so excited for this, and I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it! Also, if you are uncomfortable or dislike bad language and cursing, then I don't think this series is for you. I know I don't curse THAT much in here, but I do want to respect other peoples opinions and beliefs. Oke... onto the shitty description.______WIth the CORE coming to its end, the three have a lot of work to do in a very limited amount of time. Reader finds that things are a lot more complicated than they seem, as things quickly turn for the worst.Not only that, but the relationship between Sans and Reader begin to become even more complicated and intense.That's all I got, OH WELL!I've always been terrible at describing shit.You could ask me to describe the simplest thing and I'd fail miserably.





	1. It's Going to be Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So glad to be posting the first chapter finally! I finished it just last night, and I was very tempted to post it yesterday but I resisted.  
> Afterall, by the time I finished, it was 2 o'clock in the morning and I still had laundry in the washer and dryer so.... yeah.  
> HOUSEWORK... YAY....
> 
> Also, if I messed up some of the 3rd person pov, I'm sorry ^_^;  
> It isn't the personal pronoun that I'm trained to, so I have a harder time trying to correct myself from I or You.

15 years ago...

You watched from your bedroom as the boys played kickball on the playground. You weren’t very sporty and knew you’d get your bottom handed to you if you had tried to play with them. But, it's not like your parents would have allowed such things for a ‘lady of your stature’. You spot your brother out of the ten boys. He was talking to that boy your parents had introduced to you yesterday. You weren’t really sure why, but you couldn’t be bothered with him really.  
You sighed and backed away from the window altogether. You did want to go outside, sit in the grass and pick flowers. But, your parents wouldn’t allow it today. Not with an important meeting that was to begin rarely soon, to your understanding.  
You left your room and walked downstairs to find them. When you reached the bottom of the steps, you found another couple shaking your parents’ hands.  
“Ah, and here she is now!” Your mother, dressed in something pretty and colorful, walked you over to the young couple. “This is our little girl, Desirae.” The newcomers both gave you smiles. “Well, how adorable!” The woman said and leaned down to your level. “Hello, Miss! My name is Desirae!” you said, and held your hand out as your mother had taught you around new company.  
She shook it in turn.  
“Well hello Desirae.” she said, “She’s very polite!” Your parents seemed proud of you thus far.  
“My name is Julianna! It is a pleasure to meet you.” The lady nodded. You watched her necklace sway on her neck. It was beautiful rose gold with the words ‘Julie’ engraved with diamonds.  
“I love your necklace, Miss Julianna!” You gasped at how it sparkled, the gems dazzling your tiny mind. She pressed her hand to the necklace. “Why thank you!” She stood up, a smile on her face. “Desirae, this is Mr. Jonathan, do you remember him?” Your father motioned to the other man.  
You look over at him, staring up. “Oh! I remember you! The nice man from the restaurant!” You loved meeting new people, as they often gawked over how good of a child you were. The praise was a drug to a child. 

“Hello, again Desirae.” The man waved to you, and you waved back. The adults went into their own conversation, which you had no interest in. You were about to take your leave when the front door opened. Your brother and the boy came in, sweaty and stinky. You backed away instinctively. “Oh dear...” your mother sighed. “Damian, go upstairs and take a shower!” She demanded, and he nodded and followed her instructions.  
Miss Julianna looked as embarrassed as your mother was, and looked at the other boy. He was carrying the red kickball. “Well, this is my son... Henry. You may have met him yesterday.” Miss Julianna motioned to the boy. You waved. He waved back awkwardly.  
“Henry, please go home and bathe yourself. You smell of a wet dog.” The woman shooed him back outside, and the boy glances at you before taking his leave.

The Present...

You woke up at Alphys’ desk in the middle of the night (or so you assumed). You don’t remember passing out here, but apparently, it happened. You rubbed your eyes in exhaustion. You were using up your magic earlier, so you must have fallen asleep due to lack of energy. You sighed and looked around to see if anyone else was around.  
You remember telling Alphys about it all, and how happy and emotional she got about their messages. It had warmed your heart.  
But, apparently, while the three of you were looking toward starting the new CORE, you’d passed out. You stretch all your limbs until you’re comfortable with your body once more, and stood up from your chair.  
You were still sort of tired, considering you weren’t entirely used to using magic like this. For some reason, you felt like you’d had another glass of that echo wine from earlier. Your eyes felt droopy, you wanted to just cuddle up to something.  
Or someone.  
You blush at your thought. You push those thoughts away and go up the escalator to see if anyone was still here. But, to your surprise, there really was someone still here.  
Sans was studying something closely on the counter. He hadn’t noticed you, and you didn’t say anything to disturb him. He looked so deep in thought, almost cute the way he would scrunch his face up when he didn’t understand something. You sleepily lean against the wall, observing this analytical side of Sans. He looked to be looking at that scroll that you had gotten from the box.  
He must be trying to find answers about Gaster. Now, you were tempted to inform him of your run in with the old scientist. Should you? You hadn’t heard Gaster tell you that you couldn’t tell anyone about your encounter with him. And you felt bad keeping such information to yourself. But, then the cons of telling him kept lurking your mind.  
What if he gets overwhelmed by all the craziness that's happened?  
Or what if he starts focusing on Gaster more than the new CORE?  
You couldn’t have him thinking about that when the only thing keeping the monster race alive had suddenly broken down and sunk into a giant pit of lava.

The NEW CORE was your guys’ main focus.

A distraction could be hazardous. SO, you immediately decide against telling him for the sake of monsters.  
Of course, there was the possibility that Sans wasn’t one to let smaller things stand in the way of the bigger picture. But, emotions can bring in some unwanted problems.  
You knew how well they did too. After all, that had been your main issue since at least middle school began.  
Letting all your irrational emotions get in the way of what your parents found to be important and valuable was a big no-no. So, of course, you kept the opinions to yourself.  
When you come back from your thoughts, you realize Sans is staring directly at you now. Your eyes widen and your face turns pink. How long had he been watching you watch him?  
“good mornin’ stalker.” he gives you a grin, and you can tell the ‘stalker’ part was merely him being playful.  
“S-Sorry... Got lost in thought i-is all.” You rub your forearm sheepishly.  
“eh,” he waves it off, standing up, “ ‘s fine, i do it sometimes too.” He walks over to your sleepy figure. “damn, ya get at least 6 hours out of a nap and ya still look exhausted.” he says, tilting your face up using his phalange. You blushed at the closeness of him. “you might’a overdid it a bit, don’t ya think?” he removes his phalange, and you sigh in relief mentally. “Y-Yeah... probably...” you twiddle with your hands, looking down in embarrassment. 

“well, i’m beat too, so i think i’m gonna get goin’ here soon,” he says, and for some reason, you didn’t want him to leave. You wanted him to stay here as if him walking out of the lab meant him leaving forever. “unless... you’d like me to stay?” he asks, rubbing the back of his skull with a tint of blue on his cheeks. “N-No! No, if you’re tired you should leave and rest!”’ you were waving your hands, showing how flustered you were.  
You yourself were okay with him leaving, but your soul was saying otherwise. It was tired after a long and eventful day- no... a long and eventful week.  
It needed some time to just be around him, and you couldn’t understand why.  
I mean, the way it felt around Sans had led you to believe that you might have feelings for him, but only after a few weeks? It was too fast.  
There was no way this was an actual crush of any kind. It had to be the fact that Sans gave you more attention than most of the people on the surface.  
Well, they gave you attention, but a different kind i that situation. For some reason, you were feeling all kinds of emotions. You felt happy, confused, angry, sad...  
Your soul was having some sort of breakdown at the moment, and it didn’t feel stable at all.  
“are ya sure? ‘cause ya look a little pale there hun.”  
You hadn’t even realized that you were pale. of course, Sans wasn’t a mirror, so how could you?  
You felt conflicted over everything. “Can...” you started to say something absent-mindedly. “Can we just sit for a while?” you asked him. It suddenly felt like you were able to think more. And with that, came the anxiety of everything that was happening.  
You weren’t a hero.  
You couldn’t do this.  
You were just some girl beyond the gate a few weeks ago.  
Now an entire species depends on you.  
You weren’t ready for this.  
“alright hun, just calm down.” Were you hyperventilating?  
When had that begun? You let Sans sit you and himself down against one of the walls.  
“breath hun... breath.” You took in bigger gulps of air, letting your nerves calm as Sans rubbed your arms in reassurance.  
“whats goin’ on? somethin’ wrong?” he asks concerned.  
You cover your face with your hands. When you release your face, you look into Sans’ eyes.  
The way they could show so much emotion was amazing to you. Especially, considering they were only dits in his eye sockets. You found it comforting, his eyes...  
The way they could just seem to stare right through you.  
Usually, something like that would be uncomfortable. But, Sans was different. It was as if all he had to do was look at you the way he was looking at you now, and he could understand you.  
All your fears, your loneliness, your anxiety...

But, that was only a feeling you had.  
“I just don’t understand, Sans.” you swallowed hard. “I’m not a hero, never have been.” You explained.  
“I’m not strong. I can’t control myself as well as you.”  
Oh, how you wanted to spill your guts to him like you’d never done so before.  
It was like you’d been deprived of the right to speak after so many long years, and now someone was giving you the chance to. The locked intensity that was your lips had just been unlocked and now, you were going to talk his metaphorical ear off.

But... the anxiety-ridden side of you immediately put you back in your place.  
You feel the soft feeling of something against your temples, and you jump back in surprise. “hey hey... whoa there.” he spoke calmly to you like a frightened animal.  
“What... was that?” You didn’t recognize the feeling. It was like some sort of tingling mixed with something soft and comforting. “it was my magic.” he says. He holds his phalanges up and you watch as a strange blue surrounds them like gloves. “when uh... when paps was little,” Sans starts. “he used to get so flustered about people liking him or when he fell and hurt himself in some way.”  
Why was he telling you this story suddenly?  
“so, when he would get too sad or anxious, i’d do this to help relax ‘em.” he bashfully puts his phalanges back up to your temples, and you allow him to.  
His magic outlined around his palms felt relaxing against your skin. Like a cooling silk blanket against your head. You shut your eyes, letting your thoughts drift away. It was helping... a lot.  
Your soul felt at ease now, feeling his energy against you.  
You could feel yourself falling asleep to it, so you open your eyes. You wanted to lean against Sans and just let him do that to you all night long...  
Your soul hummed at the thought Sans up against you right at this moment. “heh, guess it works on humans too then.” he mumbles. 

Sans' POV (3rd)

He watched her as she had begun to doze off to sleep, almost falling over a couple times.  
He thought it to be the cutest thing he’d seen in a very long time. So, he stops caressing her temples, and at that, she pouts. It sends an odd shiver up his spine and more thumping in his ribcage.  
He blinks a few times before pulling the sleepy girl into his lap. Then, as she situates herself, facing the same direction as him, he begins again at the sides of her head. He listens as she hummed in content. It made him blush furiously. Had she really just let him put her in his lap?  
Now, she was comfortably lying against his rib cage. Of course, he knew that wouldn’t be too comfortable for her, so he uses his magic the same way against his front side as he was with his hands.  
He hadn’t done this to anyone in years. Paps rarely even needed it once he had gotten older, so it has been a while. It was kind of calming for him as well. It had him focus his magic and his mind.

It’s what the both of them needed at that time apparently. When he feels her breathing even out, he smiles softly.  
He leans his skull against the top of your head, feeling bone-tired. He chuckles silently at his own pun.  
Before he could realize it, he had stopped using his magic and instead found himself almost fully asleep with her against his body. He opened his eyes a bit more and realized he should probably get you to a bed. He felt that she’d probably be better off there instead of on the floor with him. So, Sans stands up with Nicole- No... Desirae, in his arms. She cuddled up to him, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck.  
He walks her into the side room he was told was hers, and lays her limp body down carefully. For a moment, he only watches her. He watches her chest falling up and down... up and down... up and down...  
He found the way her chest rose and fell when she breaths intriguing.  
Before, he had never really cared as much about the anatomy of human beings. Wasn’t like anyone was going to give him a test or something... so he never bothered.  
But now, watching her sleep, he felt curious.  
Why did her fingers twitch once in a while when she slept?  
Why does her breathing act differently?  
Could humans remember all their dreams like most monsters?  
What does it feel like to sleep as a human?

Sans hadn’t been curious about something like this in a long time.  
He stopped caring.  
Though, he had to admit he got a weird sense of relief from coming up with these questions in his head.  
Of course, if the questions went unanswered for too long, it would drive him bonkers.  
He hadn’t really expected you to be so... you?  
How could he phrase it without it sounding creepy and weird? Was that even possible?

You’d accepted his offer for one date before anything drastic happens. That, he was a little surprised about.  
I mean, the girl wouldn’t even kiss him because of a guy she’s being forced to marry. Meaning she doesn’t really have feelings for him, right?  
Of course, she never said that.  
And now, that thought would be in his mind all night.  
She had to have not liked her situation, as she had cried over the fact that it was something she couldn’t get out of.  
So, she can’t like the guy in that way, right?  
Sans rubs his skull in frustration.  
“maybe it is better to back off...” he mumbles to himself.  
But at this point, there was no way of being sure. At first, he had seen this girl as an open book that could be read so easily. But, with time, he realized that she was only letting him read a small portion of her.  
The rest of her was on lockdown.

Smart cookie.  
Only letting others see what she allowed.  
Makes them think she is exactly as she's showing them...

Nothing more... Nothing less...

Sans takes one last glance at her, before sighing and leaving her to herself to rest.  
Poor thing looked like she was having a mental breakdown. Hell, he could see it in her soul that she was feeling off.  
It made him wonder what the hell happened in those few seconds.  
She’d been staring at him for about 5 minutes before actually coming back to reality. Like she couldn’t wrap her head around something. And the look on her face...  
It would’ve broken his heart if he had one.  
She looked like the weight of the situation had just plummeted onto her shoulders all at once.  
It scared him honestly.

Sans took in a deep breath, then teleported to his empty home. The place was quiet, as always.  
He couldn’t stop thinking about the way she had practically begged him to stay through her eyes.  
It was all in her eyes.  
All the worry and fear... the desperation.  
Her voice had gone hoarse for a minute, and Sans swears he could see her soul getting brighter then dimmer then brighter again...  
Like it was lost and confused. Scared.  
All she did was take a damn nap, and she wakes up with an anxiety attack.  
“heh,” he says as he walks up the now creaky stairs.  
It was sad how much that reminded Sans of himself. Of course, hopefully, she wasn’t having nightmares.  
Oh god, he hoped she wasn’t having nightmares.  
His soul wouldn’t be able to take it if he had walked in on Desirae having a nightmare.

Especially if they were as bad as his were sometimes.  
What would he do in that situation?  
He’d want to hold her close to him. Hold her tight and never let go.  
He’d want to whisper to her that she was going to be alright. That everything was going to be alright.  
Now, he was thinking about her doing that with him.  
He stopped in his tracks right beside his bed.  
Just imagining her being right there... Telling him everything was going to be okay.  
Oh god, how he wished that could become reality.  
But, you weren’t his.  
You were someone else’s.  
Sans knew his place.

He always has.

He groans as his soul throbs in his chest cavity, lurching over to grip the closest thing.  
He could almost smell you right beside him again. The softness of your hair, the way those short blonde waves smelled of a nice Cherry blossom smell. Yeah... that's what it was, right?  
It was this cherry blossom, but with this mix of sweetness to it. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew that it was an addicting scent of yours.  
He plopped down on his bed with a groan. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about you for five seconds?  
You were like a giant body of water that has broken the dam that is his mind.  
He stuffed his face into the pillow with another groan.

He can’t have her.

He needs her.

He doesn’t deserve her.

He's her soulmate.

She deserves far better.

He was fighting with himself so much over this girl he’d just met not even a month ago it seems.  
This... this kind, caring, intelligent, adorable girl...  
She deserves better than some skeleton monster who can’t offer her anything in return.  
All he would be able to give her is himself.  
And he knows that wouldn’t be much to anyone.

He bites at the fabric in frustration, and he wants to cry.  
He was more conflicted with himself than he’s ever been in a long time.  
And over what?  
Some girl?

“she’s not just some girl though dammit,” he mumbles to himself.  
He knew that she was so much more than just some girl. And not because she happens to be ‘The Angel’ or whatever.  
Because this girl had shown him the most kindness that anyone has ever given him in YEARS.  
Alphys is great and all, but to her, he's just the guy that refused one of the best jobs you could get in the underground. Just the guy that could help her replace shit like some handyman.  
But to Desirae, he was more than just a terrible handyman.  
She believed in everything he was. In so little time she’s taken his soul like he’d never thought someone could.  
She was someone that gave him hope.  
Someone that cares about him.  
Someone that he would do pretty much anything for at this point...

And now?

He’d just have to work harder to win her heart over.  
He’d show you how much she meant to him.  
How much he wouldn’t be able to love anyone else like he loves her.

Love was a strong word... and he wasn’t sure how correct it was.  
But, either way, he’d show her how he felt.  
Because deep down...  
He wanted you to be the one to hold him at night.  
To tell him it was going to okay.

That he was going to be okay...

That everything...  
was.....  
going to......  
be......

Okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to start making the chapters a bit longer, and this one was over 3000 words. Most of the ones from before were only like... 1000 something. I felt that it was pretty important to start the book off seeing where Sans was emotionally. It's pretty important considering what I have planned. So, I figured a look into the mind of Sans would be a perfect kick starter!  
> GUYS! I love reading your comments! They brighten my day so much you have no idea!  
> I also enjoy it when you leave kudos! It lets me know you like the series and you want to see more!  
> Don't forget to bookmark so you have easy access to the story!  
> And remember, May the 4th be with you!!


	2. The Much Needed Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello, again guys!  
> How have you been?  
> I've been okay. Ya know, besides the stress of testing this upcoming week ^_^;  
> For those of you who also have testing, I commend you!  
> Speaking of which, I wanted to inform you guys real quick that the 7th and 8th I will not be uploading due to these tests. I'm having someone drive me to this testing place and the drive is about 30 minutes. I'm probably going to use that time for writing honestly. But, I won't be able to post without internet and I'm going to be up there pretty much half the day. So, I'll be pretty busy the 7th and 8th.  
> Alright, without further ado, chapter two!
> 
> Enjoy you guys~!

Sans woke up that morning feeling like mush. He wanted to just sink back into bed and be a depressed onion all day, but he couldn’t do that anymore. At least not until this whole CORE thing was figured out. And then, of course, there was the barrier thing with Desirae.  
Which, as he rubbed his clavicle, he realized had brought him right back to thinking about her.  
“godammit,” he said blatantly out loud. Even though no one was around.  
He had to push himself out of bed, knowing that there was no way out of this one.  
He breaths outward once he’s to his feet and immediately decides to teleport there. He already knew that he had woken up late, but he didn’t care. Hopefully, Alphys wouldn’t care either, considering he’d actually decided to show up today.  
When he teleports to the main room, the first thing you see is Alphys talking with Desirae at the main desk.

‘convenient,’ he thought to himself.

He walks over, still pretty tired, and sits in the chair next to Desirae.  
She seemed to look a lot better than last night, which he was thankful for.  
Last night you were pretty shaken up, so he was afraid you might not be up for anything today. Though, he wouldn’t have complained because he wasn’t either.  
“O-Oh! G-Good morning Sans!” Alphys turns to him, and he just waves back, his head leaning against the desk. “You’re u-up pretty early today!” she says, at that he looks up to her with confusion. “what? really?”  
You see Desirae chuckle at your comment and it already makes his morning a little better.  
“A-Anyway, as I was just telling Nicole,” he had to restrain himself from correcting Alphys. Since Sans knew her real name now, he wouldn’t be able to call her anything else. He liked the name. He found it to be nice for her.

Though, he was almost 1000% sure that she wouldn’t want to inform much of anyone else considering she told him that with the confidence he hadn’t seen since the coming down of the CORE. She trusted him with that information, so there was no way in hell he was gonna screw that up.  
Especially not after his vow to win you over last night, or the date she had promised him.  
“ today we need to definitely start on figuring out how we're going t-to p-pull off this C-CORE situation,” she says. Sans sees the blueprints and stray papers strewn across the desk.  
“B-Because, unless that barrier is broken a-anytime in the next...” she counts on her fingers a moment, whispering numbers to herself. “...two weeks, there won’t be e-enough energy lingering to hold u-up the underground entirely, and we’ll b-begin t-to run out of food and supplies.”  
This was indeed a serious situation.  
The CORE really was the only thing keeping the underground stable at this point. I mean, how else would there just be a convenient cave in the mountain?  
It was all through the work of magic that the mountain wasn’t collapsing onto of everyone.  
Once that magic is gone, well, let's just say it will be pancakes for breakfast.

“so, where do we start then?” he asks, searching around the room for the coffee maker. “It's upstairs.” Desirae comments.  
‘how the hell...’  
You forgot there for a moment that you’d literally spent the night at your place the first few days she was here. Of course, she noticed your tendencies.  
“thanks, hun,” he says. “W-Well, I say we examine the blueprints from the old one f-first. Then, from there w-we can improve it in a w-way.” Alphys explains using tons of hand gestures and motions to prove her point further.  
“but, remember, its just going to be a temporary fix until we make it to the surface,” he says, deciding to wait a moment on that coffee. “That’s... That’s if I can break the barrier, of course.” Desirae remarks shyly. He can see her bite her lip, so he puts a hand on her shoulder, giving her a small smile.

She returns it, of course.  
“Yes well... a-about that.” Alphys starts, and the both of them turn to her.  
“I was reading through that book more thoroughly, a-and apparently the only way to actually stand a ch-chance against breaking the b-barrier, you’ll need to be able to r-revive at least 7 s-souls.” This appeared to be news to her because the look on her face had shown confusion, panic, and surprise. “I have to revive 7 souls in order to even get close to breaking that barrier?!” She acted like she needed to repeat it, as to make sure that’s what Alphys said.  
She brought her elbows to the desk and held her head in her hands.  
“Of course...” she mumbles, “Nothing can be easy, can it?”  
Neither He or Alphys respond. Instead, she continues with, “A-At this point this i-is an ‘u-up to you’ type of decision.” She was using air quotes.  
He nods in agreement as Desirae looks to him. “look, either way, we’re doing the core thing, yeah? so, i say we start on that first.” He says, trying not to get everyone all flustered.  
“one thing at a time.” And with that, he gets up from his seat to get that coffee he desperately needed for his morning sluggishness.

Today was going to be a long day. He could tell.

Reader's POV (2nd)

You weren’t of much help today. You weren’t a science nerd like Sans and Alphys, so you were mainly on the sidelines. Though, they said they wanted you to stay put in the lab for now.  
This day was going to be a long one, that much you could tell.  
You would almost be alright with going back to bed if it weren’t for the fact that you were more awake than ever.  
Sans put you to bed last night... which kept parading your mind sporadically at the worst of times.  
And every time all you could think about was the strange feeling on the sides of your head.  
You could almost feel it through the memory.  
You could also remember the way it looked around Sans’ phalanges.  
The strange blue cushiony-like substance giving off a faint glow of blue. It looked like an ectoplasm of some kind, but it didn’t feel like it.  
It fit around his hand like a thick glove that you would use during the winter time.  
Maybe that’s how he’s never cold...  
Or it could just be the fact that he didn’t have skin TO get cold.

You sighed, putting all your random questions aside. You were sitting on top of the counter as the two would mumble things about ideas or objects. It made you get a good look at how inquisitive Sans could really be when he tried. He seemed to be a huge coffee drinker, which you had noticed from your nights where Sans would keep going back to the kitchen for more.  
He looked pretty drowsy this morning, and you felt guilty for making him stay up so late with you.  
You had some sort of break down last night. You weren’t sure where it came from yourself, but it came alright. The pressure must have hit you harder than you thought.  
You haven’t had the time to really think through everything properly. Everything was happening so fast you couldn’t even get the chance to think about it.  
Last night wasn’t like you at all.  
You hated it.  
You almost told him some pretty sensitive information too, which definitely didn’t help your guilt. He doesn’t really want to hear about all your rich girl problems.  
Even if he had almost kissed you...  
Or asked you on a date...  
Which you accepted.  
You mentally face-palm at yourself. For some reason, you wanted to take it back. Maybe make up an excuse for the CORE or your magic but...  
You couldn’t lie to Sans like that.  
Besides, while you didn’t want to do it... you also really wanted to do it.  
You know that it won’t be able to lead to anything serious anyway. Sans is a monster, and you ’re a human. No, you weren’t prejudicing...  
But if they do reach the surface, then you’ll be pretty useless again at that point. Plus, it's not like humans are going to just let monsters parade right in like its any other day.  
It will be a giant, chaotic storm. One that, you can’t see yourself getting into.  
You’ll ruin everything for my parents.  
And besides, if you do happen to revive Papyrus by some miracle, he won’t need you anymore. He’ll have his brother back. No more loneliness. No need to seek love or attention through the random girl he met once in the underground.  
You aren’t sure what he sees in you at the moment anyway. You aren’t that special really.  
“alright over there hun?” Sans startles you out of your thoughts, and you look up and nod in response. “I-I’m good.” He was still across the room next to Alphys.  
He gives you a thumbs up and returns to what he’s doing.

Sans probably just saved your thoughts from going to a pretty dark place.  
You had been sitting there for a couple hours. You bored out of your mind.  
At first, it was fun to watch them do their scientist thing. But now, you were practically begging to do anything but this. You feel your stomach growl, causing Sans and Alphys to look over at you. Sans walks over, and Alphys continues her thing.  
“what was that?” he asks, and you cock your head to the side like a dog. “Uh... m-my stomach?” you said it more like a question though.  
“well duh, but why?” he asks. “isn’t that somethin’ to do with food?” he seemed to be answering his own strange question. Then again, you realize that he’s a monster who probably hasn’t had much of a chance to know the little things about humans.  
“I’m hungry...” you mumbled, holding the spot at the center of your stomach. “oh,” he says. He looks at you as if thinking about something.  
“hows about that date then?” Your blush sets in harder than it was before.

It felt so forward. And what did your stomach growling have to do with that?  
“U-Uh...” You hop off the counter. “Sure, I suppose.” You weren’t sure how to act around him all of a sudden. “a break will be good for me too.” he says, then turns to Alphys.  
“hey alph, i’m gonna take d- nicole here for some food, be right back,” he says, and alphys merely nods. You decide not to take attention to the fact that he almost called you Desirae in front of Alphys. You told him that in confidence, so you were thankful as it was that he was trying to keep that trust.  
So, you silently followed behind Sans to wherever the hell he was taking you. You weren’t expecting this to happen so soon, but the sooner the better, right?  
You felt this weird sense of first date syndrome. You hadn’t gone on a real date before. Of course, you’d been asked out from strangers inside the gates and outside, but you would always decline.  
But it was partly due to the fact that you were officially given a fiancé at the age of 12.  
So, dating was strictly forbidden.

So, being that you hadn’t done this before, you weren’t sure how to act, what to do or say... Your emotions felt like they could go for another loop again.  
You clutched at your chest like it was the only thing keeping you afloat.  
“alright. here we are,” he says, stopping suddenly. This causes you to run into his back. You blush in embarrassment. “S-Sorry!” You apologize.  
How clumsy could you be?!  
“ ‘s fine hun.” he waves it off.  
You look around at your surroundings for once since you’d been walking. You were standing in Hotlands still, but in front of MTT Resort once again.  
You weren’t sure how you hadn’t noticed the lack of elevator, but it clicks when you realize he must have teleported as you were in deep thought.  
You needed to seriously break that bad habit that was coming back.

“I thought this place was shut down and stuff?” You say curiously, averting your eyes from him. “yeah, but... i figured the setting might be right.” he seemed embarrassed to admit that.  
He sighs, then opens the door for you. “angels first.” he winks.  
You weren’t sure how well this was going to go down.  
The butterflies were beginning to bubble up in your stomach now. You look down and walk in, Sans following behind you. Everything still looked like it had just a few days ago.  
Broken, untouched, and dead.  
“don’ worry. i cleaned up the dining area a bit before-hand.” sans says, leading the way. You bite your lip, staring at the vegetated and cracked fountain.  
He takes you to a table that had been cleaned off completely. The tablecloth even looked nicer than the rest. It was pretty empty besides two plates and two regular glasses.  
You still weren’t sure how to feel, so you just sat down awkwardly as Sans takes the chair out for you.  
You thanked him quietly, though you’re sure he hadn’t heard you. You don’t have it in you to try again. Your stomach growls again. “i’ll be right back, okay?” he says and almost rushes into what you assume to be the kitchen.  
You look around at the empty room, listening to the clattering of dishes and other things resonating from the kitchen. You also hear him curse back there, which brings you a soft chuckle.

When he returns, you see the embarrassment spread across his features. He was holding a pitcher of water and a pitcher of something else that seemed unfamiliar. “okay, i got water and i got sea tea.” he places both of the pitchers down. “W-What’s Sea Tea?” you asked. Sans pours himself some Water. “it’s uh... it’s a drink made from the marsh water in waterfall.” he explains.  
You cringe at that. “some people like it, some people don’t.” he shrugged. “Water then...” you say softly.  
He nods, a blush still stuck on his cheekbones. He pours you the water, then returns to the kitchen. You weren’t used to any of this. Things hadn’t been this awkward literally 15 minutes ago. How did things flip just like that?

You take a sip of your water. You were never much of a tea fan in of itself, but whatever it was they drank down here sounded very... gross.  
You couldn’t even find a way to sugar-coat it. You sat alone for at least 15 minutes before he returned with a full plate of hot dogs, already in the buns.  
“i know ‘s not much but...”  
You kept watching his facial expressions, seeing the embarrassment he was causing himself.  
He was... oh gosh he was cute. “I-It’s perfectly fine,” you say. He gives you a soft smile before the plate of hot dogs in between the both of you. He sits down on the opposite side of you, and now it was your turn to feel embarrassed. You should probably inform him that you aren’t exactly familiar with this type of thing. “i’m... i’m sorry if i am being really weird...” he says suddenly. “i’ve never actually done anything like this before.” You felt a small sense of relief. “N-Neither have I!” You say. You felt that you probably shouldn’t have sounded so thankful. “really?” he seemed surprised, causing you to look down shyly.  
“i mean... you do have a fiancé. but, you’re pretty. and you’re kind.” he seemed more curious than embarrassed. The compliments only furthered the butterflies. Your soul pounded in your chest harder than your actual heartbeat. It was far stronger than ever before.  
“i-i mean!” you peer up to him and see he was hiding his face in his hoodie. “sorry...” he tugged at the strings of his hood and the hood covers up his face almost entirely. The only thing visible was a portion of his fixed smile.  
“I-It’s okay...” you say, “...I don’t know why you’re apologizing for complimenting me...” You bit at the inside of your cheek. 

“i can tell you’re uncomfortable! and that isn’t what i-” your stomach growls, interrupting him. You look up completely and decide to grab a hot dog so your stomach wouldn’t interrupt anymore. You take a bite to find that they are surprisingly good and warm. Even well made for a hot dog. You look up to Sans again, who was watching nervously. He looks away once he notices you.  
Sans was your friend. That’s all he could be, right?  
No feelings getting in the middle of things. Of course, life was going to add this to your stress.  
To overwhelm you even more than you already were. That was your life! Just this giant bubble of stress and anxiety. The dread of disappointing others was heavy.  
In every situation, all you could see was the disappointment you could bring to them.  
Alphys and the monsters with the Barrier.  
Your parents with the marriage.  
Sans with liking you.  
And you disappointing yourself. 

“These are really good. Thank you,” you say softly, then take another bite to satisfy your stomach. He gives you a soft smile. “eh, they’re just hot dogs. nothin’ special really.” He takes one himself. The room goes silent, so you keep it that way.  
Though, the thumping in your chest and the butterflies in your stomach were both telling you to break the ice. “so, could i ask you something?” sans asks, setting down his half-eaten hot dog. You nod, almost finished with yours.  
“okay, so i understand that this fiancé of yours must be pretty wealthy, right?” You nod, nervously taking a sip from your glass. “so, that must mean ya gotta be doing it for his wealth? i mean, against your will of course.” he says. You think over this.  
Your parents weren’t doing it just to make your miserable. Then again, all you knew was that it was for a very important reason. You know that much, because of the conversations you used to overhear as a kid.  
“Possibly,” you answer. It left space to make adjustment to your answer in the future. “wait, ya mean you’re the one marrying him and ya don’t even know why?” he seemed surprised and a little upset by that. “that’s messed up.” he says, and begins munching on his hot dog once more.

You chuckle a little at his comment. It was, in a sense. “But that’s beyond the gate for you.”  
He looks up inquisitively. You blushed when you realized that the thought was to be more private.  
“what’s ‘beyond the gate’ mean?” he asks, finishing his hot dog. You sighed. He seemed to be more active as of recently, which in a way was good. Then there was the fact that he was acting more like a scientist than a lazy skeleton. You realize you hadn’t seen this side of him before the CORE. “On the surface, we have what we call ‘The Gate’.” You began your explanation. “Beyond The Gate is where the powerful people of the nation live. Or at least in this state.” You could see in his expressions that he had even more questions. “i remember that alphys found some sorta strange map in the dump.” You could practically see the gears in his head turning. “it said somethin’ like ‘the united states’.”  
The statement made you realize just how little he knew about human stuff like the geography or culture. After all, he’s been stuck under a mountain since before Pangea. “The United States of America. It’s what our country is called.” you began to explain to him as best you could. “There are several countries around the earth. Ours is The U.S. or America.” He takes a sip of water. “A state is just a small portion of the country. There’s 50 of them.” You watch as Sans’ practically non-existent eyebrows quirk upward.  
“that’s... a lot.” It makes you laugh. “Yeah, it is,” you say after force stopping your giggles.  
“so, i’m assuming you guys don’t do villages anymore?” he asks. You shook your head. “I mean, in a way we do. We have neighborhoods. It’s pretty much a small area where a group of houses will stay.” This time he only quirks up one. “so a village, except you all renamed it?” You chuckle and say, “And made it more modern. Yeah.”  
He leans back in his chair. “i feel like i should have brought a notebook or somethin’. jeesh.” Your smile was big.  
You had forgotten how nervous you were in conversation. Telling him about the different states, their representations, and the main geography was the majority of the afternoon. It was... delightful. And fun. You loved watching all his different expressions when you told him something that seemed mind-boggling to him.  
The afternoon was on you weren’t expecting.  
But you needed it. You really did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AYYYE!! I got the second chapter out and its ten pages long...  
> TEN FREAKING PAGES LONG YOU GUYS!  
> I was kind of winging this chapter a bit, so I'm surprised I actually got this done way earlier.  
> Chapter three is planned out a bit more so I'll be working on that tonight, the 7th, and the 8th.  
> Guys, I just thought I'd let you know that I love reading your comments! They encourage me to keep writing, as well as your kudos too!  
> Bookmarking isn't really necessary, it's just for convenience for you guys so you have better access to the story!  
> And remember, that's just a theory... A GAME THEORY. (Sorry just realized where my brain got that phrase from(Go check out Game Theorists on youtube if you're interested.))


	3. Soft, and Yet Prickly...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this came later than expected. I was going to post yesterday, but I was never able to get around to it. Thank you all for wishing me luck on the tests! It meant a lot to me!   
> ON WITH THE STORY
> 
> Enjoy~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your boring days passed by eventually. The only thing your mind could look forward to was talking to Sans when he took that afternoon break of his. Of course, you didn’t go to MTT every time. In fact, that was probably just a one-time thing. You weren’t needed much when it came to the math and science of it. Construction and such wasn’t your thing, so you were probably just more of an assistant more than anything. At one point, you remember that Alphys used you as a comparison for some measurement she was explaining to Sans. It was... a little degrading, but not enough to really hurt you in any way.  
Today would be the mark of four weeks in the underground. Quite frankly, things were going pretty well so far. There were no issues with planning the NEW CORE, there have been a couple complaints from people about the old CORE, but once Sans was able to diffuse their concern, it was all just... smooth.  
Though, it felt almost too smooth.  
It was probably just us being found in the eye of a hurricane. The few days of nothing but work and calm was refreshing. Though, now that it had the chance, your soul had been taking the opportunity as a chance to freak out finally. Ever since that night, your soul had been acting strange, as far as you could tell at least. You couldn’t even find the right words to describe it.  
Like it’s as if your soul had decided to be bipolar in a way.  
Your emotions would show more often, every now and then you’d wake up in a cold sweat unsure why, or sometimes you felt the urge to just start crying for no reason. It was frustrating if you were being honest. When you decided to confront Alphys about it, she told you that it was most likely just a reaction to your magic finally coursing through your body. She said that your body wasn’t going to be used to something like this, therefore your soul is trying to cope with the sudden shift in energy usage.

You could only hope that it would calm down sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, you’ve been reading up on the things from Alphys’ personal library. Since the both of them insisted you stay there, you needed something to do. And honestly, you couldn’t take any more of just sitting around doing nothing. You mainly avoided books that seemed would go somewhere depressing about how the monsters couldn’t escape or something. You didn’t want your mood swings to kick in or something.  
Besides, you’ve had enough misery for the month.  
So, reading up on the natural occurrences of the underground was as close to that as you were getting. It talked about things like the crystals that formed on the ceiling of Waterfall, the reason behind the change in temperatures and such, and even the kind of plants that grew beneath the surface. That last one was one you’d found kind of interesting considering your run in with a variety of unusual flowers. You knew about echo flowers, but there was also the other one that you could find in several spots in the underground.  
Those golden petals were still fresh in your memory. Being grown from the ground of the throne room... saving you from dying from the fall... the bouquet of them that sat in several vases around the underground.  
They had to be pretty popular or something. When you’d found them under the ‘Plants and Nature’ chapter, you were a little excited. The page told you that the golden flowers were known to be the softest ones in the entire world. In fact, they are so soft, that they work like a very thick blanket or bed when they are bundled together.  
It was pretty interesting. Apparently, they were called Buttercups. They were most known because the old king loved them. It explained the throne room entirely.

Now, you just wanted to go out and feel them again. The softest petals in the entire fucking world...! No wonder they were able to break your fall so well. Honestly, you should have died back there. If those flowers hadn’t been there, you would be this very moment. Your body probably wouldn’t even be found. Not even by a monster.  
You shake out of your dark thoughts.  
“Stupid mood swings...” you cursed to yourself. You shut the book, holding it to your chest.  
What if you snuck out? It wasn’t like you were going to try anything with your magic just yet. You hadn’t really been out much since all of this, and the metal walls were starting to get to you.  
Being stuck in the lab was absolutely boring. They kept saying that they might need you, but they never really do.  
You hope out of the chair and amen your way downstairs to see what the two were doing at the moment. When you reach the bottom, you catch them just in time to see them chatting over some sort of large blueprint. Sans was holding some sort of black marker while Alphys was using hand gestures to explain something. You knew that the door to the lab was too loud to go unnoticed when it opened or closed. So, even if they were focused on their conversation, it wouldn’t get you very far.  
“you okay over there hun?” You look up to him and realize that you had zoned out staring at them. You nod with a tint of red across your face. “I...I was hoping to go out for a bit,” you admit bashfully. He looks back at Alphys, who was messing with some sort of model they had made. Huh. “as long as it doesn’t take too long i think you’ll be good.” he gives you a wink. Your soul makes a few hard thuds before you’re able to answer.  
Why does he have to wink like that?!  
You give him a smile, then thank him. Sans lets you out and you sigh in relief as the door shuts behind you. Once you’ve been brought back to your main focus, you look from the elevator to the bridge. Both still made you nervous. You had to choose between which fear you could endure the most...

. . . . . .

You smack yourself in the forehead saying, “Bridge it is.” With the CORE down now, you wouldn’t be able to make it to the throne room without another long ass bridge anyway. And there wasn’t one up anyway. Not like you kept spare bridges in your back pocket or anything. You approach the safer bridge and hesitantly begin to take steps forward. You’d done this just yesterday, but you still had some sort of weird adrenaline in you.   
In fact, you were so caught up in everything that you hadn’t even thought about that incident. It felt like nothing compared to jumping over the CORE and into a narrow hallway over a large pit of lava. Yeah... that made you feel a little better actually. You cross the first bridge like it’s nothing, as well as the second. Though, you practically jumped out away from the bridge, as if the thing were about to eat you alive or something.  
When you got in a couple of breaths, you shake away any lingering fear. Your footsteps were silent for the most part. All you could hear was the slight bubbling of lava beneath you. You gulped anxiously. You knew after the bridge accident before, you wouldn’t be able to cross another one. Nor did you like the boiling magma that was kept beneath you all this time. Especially now that the CORE has crumbled out from underneath you already. Now that you knew that the CORE was also keeping the entire underground up, it made you more anxious than ever. All the adrenaline from your braveness back a few days ago had disappeared back into whatever hole it was living in.  
You furrow your eyebrows as you realize that you hadn’t sweat almost a drop. The warmth was a lot less overbearing now. Was it because all the metal was gone? Doesn’t matter right now anyway. The whole point of this trip was so you could STOP thinking about the CORE and start clearing your mind and soul of worry and mood swings.  
You enter back into Waterfall, leaving behind Hotlands once again. Through Waterfall, you see one or two monsters who wave to you or ignore you. Both were okay in your book though. You suppose the monsters saw you worthy of being acquainted with after... the CORE.  
“Dammit.” you curse under your breath. Why can’t your mind stop wandering there?   
You also see Quinn right at the entrance of Waterfall. You give him a friendly wave, and he does the same. Snowdin Town now. You already had on Sans’ hoodie again, since for some reason you had fallen asleep in it the other night. You hadn’t even thought about taking it off.  
Oh well. Didn’t matter now.  
It turned out to be helpful anyway.  
You tuck your, still, warm hands into the sleeves a bit more in attempts to keep them warm.  
The snowy area wasn’t snowing. In fact, apparently to Sans, it had stopped snowing completely in the last week or so. Ever since the-  
You rub your face in frustration at your thoughts. It has been embedded into your brain now!  
You’d sat there listening to them talk about it for a few days straight, and now you can’t think about anything else without it coming up. You sigh deeply as you quickly make it through the area. Passing the sign... the two stands... even more, stands...  
It was quite tiring actually. Walking from Hotlands to the Ruins was quite the workout. You always found the underground to be small. But, you now realize that that was only in comparison to the surface. Down here, walking from point A to point B was fucking rough...  
Especially with your body trying to adapt to the sporadic temperature changes. When you reach those familiar purple doors, you lean against them for a moment, catching your breath. The snow was soaking into your shoes the more you stood there, so that break didn’t last 15 seconds before you keep going. The purple interior of it all gave you some nostalgia from just a few weeks ago. Four weeks ago you were this anxious ball of stress and loneliness that you were going to give up over a stupid snow blizzard that, might you add, wasn’t even as strong as you thought it was. It only reminds you that you’ve almost died at least... five or six times now?  
In just four weeks... Wow, you are accident prone.  
You walk up the basement stairs, letting the yellows fill your sight instead of purple. The floorboards still creaked and the dust was still caked everywhere from books to lights.  
You rub your fingers against the rail that kept people from falling down into the foyer. You cringe and wipe the dust on your pants. You noticed a few broken rail posts, but you couldn’t see them anywhere near you.  
You walk out of the once family home and return to the purples. It was so admirable how they had all built the underground using nothing but pure handiwork and manpower. Both from themselves or something they’ve created. Remarkable. You were able to make your way through the Ruins fairly quick. It wasn’t as large as the other places in the underground. You finally stop at the place that started this all. The small golden patch of flowers that lied perfectly in the small ray of sunlight that shone through the hole of the mountain, not to mention a few cracks with some sun that had found its way through those too.

You sigh, slumping down to your knees in exhaustion and relief. You grass felt nice against your knees and hands. You realized that you hadn’t felt actual grass in a while. It was refreshing. The same could go for the sunlight. You put your book aside and start to carefully feel at the soft, large petals. They were indeed the softest you’d ever felt. You smile wryly at the feeling. You stop when you hear shuffling. You look all around you but see no one. You shake off the feeling and wave it off as yourself or the plant life.  
Turns out, it really was the plant life. Though, this one had a face and was staring directly at you once you turned your head. You jumped back in shock, letting your palms keep you from laying on the ground. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” He says, using his leaves life hands and/or arms. “Calm down jeesh.” He folds them in front of his stem. “Uh...” You don’t know why you were dumbfounded considering you’ve seen a living skeleton, man made of fire, and dinosaur.  
You blink a few times and regain your words. “Who are... you?” your eyebrow quirked.   
“I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower.” He holds out his leaf for you to shake. He looked just like the other buttercups. His face was almost cartoonish. You use your thumb and pointer finger to shake it politely. “Look, let me get straight to the point here,” he says. “You seem to be my only hope right now, so here goes nothing,” he mumbled the last part to himself. “The underground needs your help.” He states very seriously. “Tell me something I don’t know...” you mumbled. Though, he easily caught it.  
“Yeah Yeah! I already know about the whole debacle with Hotlands. Stupid lizard couldn’t even care for some plants if she had any.” He says.   
Well, that was a little rude. You thought before he continued. “Anyway, I’m not talking about that!” He holds up one of his leaves like he was pointing to the sky. “The CORE coming down won’t matter much to you once you hear this.”   
You stay silent as you sit up and sit criss-cross like a kid. “A couple days ago, I heard some humans from above talking about you.” Talking about you? Anyone you knew directly wouldn’t be on the mountain normally.   
Of course, there was the fact that you had fallen down this exact hole.

“They were saying something about how some person was going to try and get you out of here though...” his features seem to get nervous. “...through some very harsh ways.” That made you nervous as well. “...what kind of ways?” you asked him.   
“Well, something about some machine. I couldn’t really understand all that random mumbo jumbo. Plus the hole is taller than fucking ever...” he grumbles. You were curious how such a small guy could hold so much edge.

“But apparently the thing can suck energy from the underground faster than not having the core will.” You felt like you were holding your breath. “Meaning that without the core AND with that thing the rest of your humans have could mean the entire underground dusted in just a week or less.” It’s true. Alphys had claimed that without the CORE, the underground would be nothing but rubble in about two or three weeks. A single week to either break the barrier or fix the core to pro-long this surprise attack...

Had your parents done this? You knew that the police wouldn’t go through with something like this because one; they had no clue about monsters. Two; you were only one person. Well known or not, you’re just some missing 23 year old.  
Nothing new. Nothing special.  
So, that meant there had to be someone you knew closely. But, does someone you know closely know about monsters? It was a stretch, but not a long one. The gate was kind of close to the mountain, hence why it was so easy for you to get up there in the first place.  
But, you hadn’t really thought about the kind of things your parents might know in this regard. In fact, it was only until just recently that you had thought about them and what they cared about.  
They have to have some sort of investigation going.   
But how would they have figured out that you were down here so fast?  
Was four weeks enough time to figure such a thing out?  
Well, for your parents that was an obvious yes.

Powerful people have a way of... convincing... others.  
“Hey. Buddy.” He looks at you with a slight hint of annoyance. “Oh, sorry,” you say.   
He sighs and says, “I want to make a deal.” You bite the inside of your mouth. “What could you possibly want from me?”   
“I want you to act as my bodyguard and get me out of here along with everyone else.” Your face contorts into confusion. You had already planned on getting everyone out, but why would he need a bodyguard. You suppose he could see the confusion from a mile away. “Look, your friends aren’t as fond of me. I don’t exactly sit well with some monsters since I’m not all sunshine and rainbows.” He seemed to be annoyed by that fact. But, you were sure that deep down it must hurt him in some way. “If you help me, then I’ll provide my assistance as best as I can.” His voice got a little softer at your understanding. 

“Assistance? What kind?” You asked him. You sit on your knees so your back was hurting as much. “Just... any!” He was flustered by that question. “The CORE, the barrier, whatever i can do! Idiot...” The name didn’t exactly hurt you, considering his expression didn’t show all hatred.   
“D-Do we have a deal then?!” He holds out his leaf once more to shake.   
Making deals was something you usually weren’t part of. It was always my parents that you watched make and break deals with. But, that was only for business. This is an entire species we’re talking about. And if he can prove to show some use of the barrier or NEW CORE...  
You shook his petal again, and for a moment he looked surprised. But, he quickly washes that expression away when we hear Sans’ voice.

Had you been gone too long? You stand up and Flowey keeps behind your leg, somewhat out of sight. Though, he would probably be given away due to his leaves gripping your calf. “hun how far did ya go jeesh.” He looked slightly worn out. “Well, I would have been closer but I can’t exactly reach the throne room anymore...” You mumbled. You knew Flowey would have to unmask himself either way. But, you let him stay comfortable for the time being.  
“the throne room? why would you need to go there?” he walks closer to you, and you have to refrain yourself from stepping back so you wouldn’t step on Flowey. “The buttercups.” You say immediately. He looks down beside you. Was that a bad answer in this situation?  
Apparently so, because you watch his face go from relaxed to annoyed in a split second. He leans his head over to peek at Flowey. The flower monster was wide-eyed. “i see you’ve met... him.” You could almost see the poison dripping from his mouth as he had said that.

“Yes and I’m keeping him,” you say without hesitation. Maybe if you’re confident about it, he’ll back off a little? You weren’t naturally confident, so maybe the change in stature would make him feel like you felt sure about your decision.  
“what?” he was a little surprised. “I-I am not a pet you can just keep!” Flowey hadn’t liked the way you had phrased it.  
Oh well.  
“But you’re soft like a pet.” you chirped, making him groan. “you do know that he isn’t like alphys or me. he isn’t exactly... nice.” He was sugar-coating it for sure.  
But, you didn’t mind. Besides, with your deal set in motion, he won’t try anything stupid if he wants what he asked for that badly. “I know... but that doesn’t change my mind.” You kept your posture high. He looked very conflicted. You hated to see him so torn. Did he really dislike him that much?   
“fine. but if that weed so much as lays a leaf on someone-”  
“I don’t see that being an issue.” you interrupt. You understood Sans didn’t like him, but there was no need to call names here. You look down at Flowey, he was also looking at you. “Uh... I’m gonna need a flower pot or something!” You blink and look around. “I don’t have one,” you state blandly. Sans sighs, “i’ll go get one...” you give him a sympathetic smile.   
He teleports away and the silence takes over the room.  
You can still feel the tension in the air. It was thick like a fog almost. You came to this calming place to look at some damn flowers, and what you got was more chaos...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got the Flower introduced...!  
> I had plans to introduce him eventually, but in book one, it just didn't fit right.  
> So, here he is now! I wanted to not only use him for future ideas but introduce the idea better that Frisk went through a neutral run, not a genocide. In the last run they made, they killed pretty much everyone EXCEPT a few small monsters and some main characters or 'boss monsters'.   
> I just wanted to clarify is all.  
> Anyways! Thank you guys for your lovely comments! They make my day and help improve myself believe it or not! Thank you for the kudos as well!  
> And remember, I'm a slacker and can't do stuff on time T_T


	4. Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I went away for a while! That has to be the longest I've ever gone without posting. But, nonetheless, I finished up the chapter today and figured you guys are probably done waiting.  
> Super excited for where this is going!!  
> Hopefully, I will have more time to update over the summer, but things are beginning to get a bit cramped at the moment so definitely don't expect too many updates.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy~!

15 years ago...

“I’ll be right back with your order!” You watched the sweaty waiter walk away nervously. Sitting in one place for too long was going to upset you, as you weren’t fond of not being able to play when you were bored and waiting. Your brother kept trying to distract you with crayons or some other strange toys. None were working as well as he would have hoped. “So, Mr-”

“Please, call me James. You’re my friend after all.” The strange man states. “Yes, of course.” Your mother smiles at him. “Since the children are distracted and we’re waiting,” You turn your head back to the paper and crayons that were provided to you, and you start coloring aimlessly. “...shall we proceed with this?” your father finishes his sentence, but you don’t look their way.  
“Indeed.” Mr. Jonathan’s voice grows softer.  
“I wanted to invite you here to talk about the upcoming rumors...” The table grows quiet. Your brother looks to you, and you just shrug in response. You were old enough to understand that something was off, but you wouldn’t be able to comprehend whatever the situation truly was.  
Their voices become quieter, to the point of whispering. You can no longer hear them.  
You look around at the entire restaurant, feeling weird stares from certain tables. Others could’ve cared less about your presence.  
You wanted to go home. Then you hear, “So what do you propose we do about the situation then?” That was your mother. “There is only so much that can be done. But, I believe that if you can get in good negotiations with someone of the same rank as you in some way, it could draw away attention or maybe even drop this entire fiasco you have on your hands.” You couldn’t understand at least half of the bigger words in that sentence. Nor would you be able to pronounce them any better.  
“Like an arrangement of some sort?” Your father asks. “Desirae!” You jump at the sound of your brothers' whispers. Your attention is shot back to him.  
“They said that we shouldn’t intrude.” You bite at the inside of your cheek. “I’m not!” You whisper back.  
“Yes, and I believe I have just the people to do so with too-”  
“Wait, what would we have to offer that someone else could take advantage of? It’s not like we’re part of any important escapade.” Your mother interrupts.  
You were beginning to grow bored.  
“Well, you’d better find one and fast.” Mr. Jonathan insists, “Because if you don’t, then the organization could be thrown in the trash like junk mail!” This time, when you look over at your brother, he’s listening as well. You’d tell him he’s a hypocrite, but you knew you wouldn’t be able to get the word out correctly. The waiter returns, along with the regular conversation before all the whispers.

You were bored and hungry now.  
No need to keep listening to whatever the adults were talking about.  
You kick your feet up and down as your brother had begun to look away from the table.

The Present...

You watched the small flower sleep at your bed-side. He was rather odd. Definitely different than the other monsters. Like... a weird hatred sat in him. But it was faded in a way.  
It was unusual, but definitely not the reason you were awake at this hour. Whatever this hour was...  
Your eyes felt a little heavy, but not enough to fall asleep. Your mind kept going back to what you had been told today. The threat of someone who knows the underground and what it contains... how it functions... It couldn’t be the human before you that had fallen, as I have no idea who that actually is, and I’m almost 1000% positive that they don’t know me well enough to do such a thing. Monsters were counting on Alphys and Sans to get the NEW CORE up and running.  
But that won’t matter much anyway if all the energy is somehow sucked from the mountain.  
The task was already daunting enough as it was, but now your time limit just got shorter.  
You’d have to stop sticking around the lab. You need to be at the barrier. No more excuses or questions because you didn’t have time. Of course, in order to break that barrier, you needed to revive at least 6 souls from the dead.  
Which was another thing entirely.  
It may feel right to bring them back for the sake of monsters, Sans and Alphys and all...  
But it felt undeniably wrong to play god. It was something that felt too overwhelming and staggering to mess around with. It was possible that one wrong move could ruin the outcome entirely. In fact, it was more than likely that that was the case.  
A deep sigh escapes you and you roll on your back in discomfort.  
How were you to do this in such a little amount of time? Everyone's hopes and dreams weighed on you harder than anything else...

You could be the reason an entire species goes extinct.  
It would be all your fault because you wouldn’t be good enough.  
Because you would be a failure.

You wanted to bang your head up against a wall now. None of this was going to help the mood swings. You could just feel the rage and sadness bubbling up. You needed to get away from everything. It was becoming too much. Way too much...  
You sat up and left the room in frustration. When you exit, you see the desk lamp on at the counter, but no one there to fill in the emptiness.  
You spot your backpack beside the counter...

Gaster. 

Could he help you? There was only so much you could actually do. You weren’t well adjusted to your magic at all. In fact, you passed out not an hour after arriving back at the lab in exhaustion. If you revived someone every day for the week, only leaving a day or two to break the barrier... You’d wear yourself thin. Too thin. So thin, you feel that you might go into some kind of coma. And that was just if you were entirely successful in each one.  
It was so risky. So so so risky.  
And, for only a brief moment, you recall something Sans had said to you at one point.

“you ain’t gotta do this ya know.”

A shiver ran down your spine at the memory. You had an emotional rollercoaster that day. You went from high hopes for the future with time to spare to everything crashing down with only a couple of weeks. It was all too fast for you to dwell over properly.  
You had this weird thing where, if you couldn’t think through a situation before it happened, then you wouldn’t be able to handle it. You’d feel too unprepared and put on the spot. That’s why you could never become anything that had to do with performing. Singing, dancing, acting, whatever...  
You can’t take the pressure because all you can plan is the script, moves, or lyrics. Everything else is something you can’t think your way through. You can’t just plot every single thing that could go wrong and find a way out of it. You’d be filled up with too much paranoia.  
And you already had enough as it is.  
You come out of your thoughts and walk over to the desk to grab the journal from your bag.  
You wouldn’t be able to sleep if you didn’t write to him. You need some help.  
No.  
You need a lot of help.  
You scavenge the counter for a pen and when you find one, you sit in the empty chair and place the journal beneath the light. You were going to need all the help you could get. Without Gaster, and possibly Flowey if he proves to be worth anything in this situation, you would be stuck.  
You open it up to the first page, then open the cap to the pen.

What should you say? You weren’t even for sure if this could work. In fact, the whole encounter could have been made up in your mind!  
No, you can’t think like that. After all, he gave you the notebook, which is still here in your hands in front of you. There is literally no other explanation for that... right?  
You were second-guessing yourself. Your hand shook slightly with the ink pen raised very close to it. Just do it.  
You put the pen to the paper.  
‘I need your help.’ That was all you could put. You waited...

But nothing came.

Maybe it didn’t work. Maybe what he gave you was just some practical joke or something.  
That had to be it. Or maybe...  
He just couldn’t respond right now. You chuckled lightly at yourself, dropping the pen and backing away from the journal. You were a mess right now. You hadn’t been put so on the spot before. It was nerve-wracking. You gripped at your elastic pants and stood up from the chair.  
You feel on the inside of your cheek with your tongue. You’ve been biting at it so much you might have given yourself a sore or a scratch of some sort.  
You hear shuffling from downstairs. It had startled you at first. But, you calmed yourself knowing that you haven’t exactly been the most stable recently. No matter how calm they could see you as you’d always be freaking out on the inside.  
Anxiety.

You carefully grab the notebook from the counter then make your way back into your... couch.  
Flowey was still fast asleep. Alphys hadn’t been up here to see him when you arrived back again, so that reaction hadn’t met your eyes yet. It made you wonder what the little Flower had done. Most of all monsters, were as he described, goodie-two-shoes. And, you were pretty sure that it couldn’t be any closer to the truth. Everyone was very kind and caring. It was shocking how well they had adjusted to you. Especially after the last human... whatever their name was.

Didn’t matter.

You pet the soft flower friends petals as carefully as possible. When he was talking to you about his encounters with the last human, he spoke how soulless they were. But, something about the way they said certain things made you believe that something more was to the story. He acted as though he’d known this human a while. But, in actuality, from your memories, they were only in there no longer than one or two weeks. Was that enough to grow close enough to someone like that?  
You couldn’t ask him, because he hadn’t even been the one to suggest there was a close relationship of some sort. But, it wasn’t just Flowey that gave you that idea.  
It was the way Sans’ face would contort depending on where Flowey was at in his explanation.  
There was something dark in the air.  
Though, that had been there since the beginning of your little adventure.  
The darkness just kept getting thicker and thicker. It was depressing, miserable and Joyless.  
There was so much still hidden in it too. So fucking much...  
With a dismal sigh, you opened the journal up. Your eyes widen a little as there was new writing in the notebook. 

It was more symbols you couldn’t understand. You can’t decipher anything he writes. “Why does he have to make things complicated?!” You whispered to yourself. You shut the journal and put it aside. You knew Alphys had the paper that could decipher this type of thing. And obviously, this meant you’d have to learn it by heart.  
No time for that at the moment.  
Paper it was.

But you had no idea where that paper was. Alphys has it somewhere in the lab. But the lab is rather big. Too big in fact. No way you’d be able to find it on your own.  
You thought about bringing Flowey to help, but he’d ask questions.  
But, maybe you could just tell Alphys? No, then you would feel guilty for keeping so many secrets from everyone else. And now was not the time for secrets.  
You close the journal once more, locking it as well. You drop it underneath the couch and exit the room again.  
You weren’t tired anymore. You need to be figuring things out if you weren’t tired. When you make it downstairs, no one is there. Whoever came in earlier must have gone to the lab's basement.  
You didn’t really care if anyone saw you leave though.  
You needed to be alone. Away from everything.  
A way to not only give yourself some space but also think about your next move.  
Your footsteps echoed throughout the room easily before they quieted at the earthy trail you had led yourself to.  
You peeked over the edge of the lava, your fear currently unavailable. 

You decided you wouldn’t trail too far away from the lab as you had earlier today. You really just needed to walk. If you didn’t just think through everything on your own, you knew it would drive you to the brink of insanity.  
But if your thoughts get too out of hand, then that would equally bring the same fate.  
This wasn’t about just thinking over your thoughts, but organizing them as well. You need to start from the most important issue at hand...  
Which, by the way, is no longer the falling of the CORE. No.  
The most crucial thing right now is what Flowey had told you. By the looks of it, there is far more to this than I had really imagined. There is something that you’re missing. Without that missing piece, the whole story is nothing but confusion. Flowey told you that the humans were planning to get you out. Do they want to tear down the entire mountain just to free you? It’s flattering, but stupid and dangerous nonetheless. Besides, without the barrier broken, there is no way that anyone can leave anyway. Would the barrier protect everyone from everything crashing down? No. Definitely not.  
Do they realize that the barrier is even there? If not then all this plan of theirs will do is destroy an entire species and me. Whoever came up with this plan isn’t as brilliant as they might think.

Of course, it is also possible that whoever has decided to take on this idea has other intentions that have nothing to do with you escaping the underground. Besides whoever this mystery person is, they certainly wouldn’t care about one person. And they certainly would not collapse an entire mountain for you. The concept was beginning to frustrate you.  
You realize, though, that it doesn’t matter what the intentions are behind the attack at the moment. Because no matter the intention, it will still bring the same outcome. Death.  
That word gave you a shiver up your spine. Just the thought of your failure being put into action... Everyone and everything has gone.  
You shook your depressing visions away. “No time to dawdle.” You mumbled to yourself.  
So, in order for everyone to survive this, you would have to break the barrier. That moves you to your next thought process. Breaking that thing will be a challenge as it is. But giving you less than a week to do it makes the word ‘challenge’ an understatement. You have to break the most powerful force field on the planet in no longer than a week so everyone can live and make it to the surface. And the only way to break such a thing requires reviving at least 6 people.  
Fantastic. If you’re correct, reviving the dead is a task that will drain your energy almost entirely if not all the way. Meaning I’d be out of it for at least the rest of the day. If even that. 6 monsters in 7 days. You’d get one day to break that thing. And that’s if the humans even stay true to their word.

You sighed heavily and finally look up around at your surroundings. This entire situation made your head pound and you needed a moment to breath. You had apparently made your way back into Waterfall. You hadn’t gotten too far ahead either. You were in that same spot where you went to the other realm. The brightly lit room of a mixture of beautiful blues, the splashing water from tiny creaks to massive waterfalls in the distance and the whispering echo flowers that littered the grassy ground. It feels like that encounter was ages ago. But, it was just last week. Your sense of time was undoubtedly all over the place by now.  
You placed a hand gently on your chest as if to ground yourself in some way.  
Using up that much magic could take you out of commission for a while. This type of stuff needs time that you don’t have. Time was against you. Everyone and everything is surrounding you. You’re cornered. Nowhere to go. Humans, monsters, Sans, Alphys, your parents, even yourself-  
Your breathing was picking up, and you took notice of this fast. You shut your eyes and grip at your shirt where your hand laid.  
Your thoughts were getting out of control once more. You couldn’t help it.  
You were exasperated by everything! It had all just been dumped on you without warning!  
You jumped down that hole that day in hopes of death. You should be dead. That drop should have been impossible to survive and yet here you were living, breathing, walking, talking...  
And yet you had no regret.

It irked you in a way. You hated everything about your plight. You wished that the threat would just go away and leave you and everybody else alone. That’s what you wanted to go away. But, you don’t find yourself regretting a single moment with your allies down here. You saved a group of monsters from certain death and survived yourself. YOU did that. And for nothing in return. You met Alphys and Sans. Both of which have helped you in ways no one else on the surface would. They’re your friends now. They always will be.  
You take a couple deep breaths in and out.  
Whatever this threat was...

You were determined to kick its ass!

You felt more awake than ever before. Energy surged underneath your skin, throughout your veins, and inside your bones.  
It threatened to travel from the rest of your body to your arms. Then your wrists. Then your hands and fingers...  
It was powerful. And your eyes were kept shut as everything changed.  
The magical energy surfaced and swirled in your hands and around your body.

When you open your eyes, you had expected to see Waterfall. Instead, you only find a nothingness. It’s black. That’s it.  
Just black. It’s an abyss that you could do nothing but gawk at.  
You felt something crawling up your back and the whispering sounds. They sounded like the echo flowers.  
But they weren’t. These whispers were much more hateful and were becoming louder and louder with every word they each spoke. There were too many people saying too many things at the same time so nothing could be made out.  
You covered your ears and shut your eyes crouching down.  
You wanted to scream, but you couldn’t.  
Like your voice had been taken away from you.  
You’re cold.  
You’re empty.  
You’re alone.  
You’re somewhere.  
You’re Nowhere.  
What are you again?

It hurts.

Sans' POV

He was awakened from his sleep by some loud banging. They were merely blobs of sound at the moment, and he couldn’t tell whether it was because of the separation between floors or because of his sleepiness. Either way, there was something going on upstairs. It made him wonder why Alphys and/or Desirae would be up so late at night.  
He groaned and sat up on the bed. He’d decided to just stick around at the lab overnight so he could help the two with this whole CORE situation. He was going to just walk up the steps that were nearby, but he didn’t feel like it. He was too tired to do such activities at the moment. So, he uses one of his rips in space to teleport upstairs.  
“alphys what in the world are ya-”

He is stopped dead in his tracks when he processes the sight in front of him.  
This was not Alphys at all. In fact, the noises hadn’t even been the human either.  
It was a certain fish lady who was carrying them in her arms with a concerned look spread across her face.  
Your body was limp and he could have sworn he was seeing THE Undyne right in front of him. He rubs his sockets in his fit of sleep that was still washed over his features. When his eyes open again, the sight is still there, and Undyne is looking directly at him.

“shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a lot more thought process put into it. I'm trying to make it to a point where the reader is struggling to keep her barrings together. Everything is crashing down and without a clear mind, everything can go tumbling downward fast. The reader, as a human being with these Anxiety issues, needs the world to be more clear because otherwise, it's too much for her to properly process.  
> This chapter may not cover as much plot, but I find it necessary so that the story sticks true to the actual process of the character.  
> Just thought I'd share! ;P


	5. Teach You A Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was all like 'Oh don't expect updates' and now HERE I AM THE VERY NEXT DAY! I ended up getting so in the zone working on chapter 5 last night that I finished it and it was around 2:30 in the morning...  
> I may have a problem xD
> 
> Anyway, I have a question for everyone so if you're interested in putting your opinion, I'm writing the question in the endnotes so you can enjoy the chapter~!

You had been staring at the ceiling for at least a good five minutes. You were desperately confused. You were in Waterfall. You got depressed. Then you got pumped. And now you’re here. On the couch in the lab. Flowey has been trying to break your gaze but gave up at minute 3.  
“Are you done yet?” He groaned at you.  
“Maybe...”  
You remember lots of noise and energy. You don’t remember walking back to the lab or laying down on the couch. Of course, Flowey had no clue what the hell was going on either, but he couldn’t leave to figure it out until someone brought him there. You sighed and sat up. You felt dizzy, and a little drained. Had Sans found you or something? You must have passed out or something. You and Flowey jump at the sudden crash from downstairs. “What the...” You mumbled and grabbed the flower pot that Flowey sat in.

There were voices downstairs, but the walls were so thick that there was no way of hearing any coherent words without walking out. So, you walk out.  
When you do, the first thing you hear is, “-st can’t b-believe y-you’re here!” Alphys had stutters all throughout her sentence. You were impatient and used the escalator as regular steps, almost tripping at first.  
Who else would be he-  
You were caught like a deer in the headlights. A blue fish was hugging the yellow dinosaur. Their colors contrasting strangely. “What the fuck.” You said aloud. All the attention was turned to you, and Alphys was put back on the ground. “NGHAAA!!!! You did it punk! Man! You really had me worried back there in Waterfall!” Undyne proceeded to hug you, lifting your body off the ground and almost crushing the pot between your arms. You were dreadfully confused.  
“H-How did y-you even do it without the b-book?!” Alphys asked as Undyne dropped you.  
“Uh...”  
“and why did you do it without telling anyone that you were leaving in the middle of the night.” Sans seemed flustered at that point.  
“It was AMAZING though!” Undyne proceeded. “Wait, guys, what is-”  
“it was dangerous though.”  
“I don’t even know what-”  
“M-Maybe it w-was but i-it’s already d-done!”  
“ALRIGHT EVERYONE SHUT UP FOR FIVE SECONDS!!” Flowey shouted over everyone, and everyone shut up. You pat his petals, and he grumbled something incoherent. “What are you guys even talking about?” You asked. They all looked at you with deep confusion. “I don’t even remember much about last night.”  
You looked to Undyne. “I have no clue why you’re even alive either!”  
Had you revived Undyne? But how? You thought you would’ve remembered such a thing happening. “wait, you don’t remember literally bringing undyne back to life?” Sans asks coming closer to you. You shook your head. “I went to take a walk to collect my thoughts last night since I couldn’t sleep.” You explained, “The last thing I remember was giving myself a pep talk. And then I was upstairs.” 

Undyne spoke out, “Well it makes sense. When I saw her she was passed out on the ground.” Of course, you had passed out. So Undyne must have brought you back to the lab then.  
“I wasn’t even trying to revive you yet.” You say, which catches everyone off-guard apparently.  
You set Flowey down on the desk, Sans giving him the side eye before focusing on you again.  
“well, that’s weird.” He comments.  
Flowey seemed to just be taking things in.  
“S-So you somehow conjured up your magic to revive U-undyne.. on accident? Th-That doesn’t m-make any sense...” Alphys scrambled to find that book again. She flips through page after page until she finds what she is looking for.  
“I-It says here that in order to r-restore the l-life of someone that you must have s-strong feelings that are similar to the d-dead.” Alphys simplified its words. “So in order for me to even be here, you had to get pretty stoked about something!” Undyne talks directly to you.

You had gotten excited. You said you were going to ‘kick it’s ass’ in all of the excitement.  
Undyne must be an adrenaline junky of sorts because the adrenaline was all throughout you at that point.  
“So I have to feel a certain way to do such a thing? That seems a bit tedious.” You mumbled.  
“but it makes sense.” Sans jumps in once more. “in the underground when a monster uses their magic, the intent behind the magic is what makes its effect differ. for example...” He motions to Undyne. “let's say undyne throws an attack my way. in order for that attack to do some real damage, she has to have malicious intent if she wants to hurt me.”  
Huh. You had never known that before.  
“Speaking of malicious intent...” Your mind wandered back to your worries from yesterday evening. Wait... should you really be telling them this? Well, this meant the endangerment of their entire life so... Yes. They had a right to know.  
But the situation was already tight. “W-What is it?” Alphys asks. You were having an internal struggle.  
You looked to Flowey, hoping to find some sort of answer by just looking at him. However, that was not the case. He could still be lying...  
You couldn’t fully trust him yet. After all, if Alphys and Sans didn’t care much for him, what were you to do? Oh boy, this was so complicated. “I was thinking and I think it’s best that we lay low on this whole NEW CORE thing...” Your head ached slightly. “W-What do you mean? W-We are getting p-p-pretty close to coming up with an end r-result and-”

“That’s great! But, I just don’t think I want to get anyone’s hopes up in case something else pops up.” It wasn’t a lie necessarily. You could tell everyone in the room had skepticism behind your words. “Look, you all may not understand as well as I do, But I have experience in this whole ‘releasing to the public’ type of thing.” You began to give the best explanation you could.  
“People, monsters or not, may not understand the full...intensity of the situation. I want you to know that this isn’t fun and games. This is more serious than you know.”  
Don’t blow your cover on this.  
“If something does end up happening, we cannot just outright confess this to everyone. It will spread a panic that we certainly don’t need right now.” That YOU certainly can’t handle right now. “Hate to say this, but she has a point.” Undyne bumped in. Thank god someone else was on your side. “Seeing as I was captain of the royal guard, there were things that only Asgore and I could keep secret. He knew that breaking some stuff might cause panic throughout the underground.”  
You bit your cheek. “alright, so we keep this quiet for now. the only thing we can really tell is what we’ve already given them. but sooner or later we won’t be able to keep up such secrets.” Sans argues. “If this NEW CORE isn’t finished within that ‘sooner’ category, the public will be the least of our problems.” You say. Alphys nods in agreement. You look to Undyne. It was still crazy that you had unintentionally revived someone overnight unknowingly. “As for you, you probably won’t be able to go back to being a guard.”

Undyne looks to you understandingly. “We can’t have people getting suspicious that someone who was once dead is suddenly alive. That won’t end well for anyone.” Everyone silently agrees.  
“Well, I don’t want to be completely useless in this situation either!” She says.  
You could understand that feeling.  
“What if I helped you with your magic?!” Undyne seemed excited about that. It was an excitement that you weren’t exactly used to. Undyne was a lot different from everyone you had met down here. Everyone was so melancholy and hushed. Not Undyne. It was easy to see how the monsters must have looked up to her with such high hopes. It hurt to know that it must have deteriorated once their strongest and bravest monster had been killed off by a measly human.  
You shuddered a little, but it went unnoticed. “Yeah, that would be nice.” You say nervously.  
You could honestly use some company when it came to your magic. You had been going at it alone since the CORE fell so Undyne might be a nice adjustment to that.

“A-Alright. So, Sans a-and I will work on the st-structure of NEW CORE t-today, while you t-two work on m-magic.” Alphys suddenly looks to the living flower with a nervous sweat.  
“He’ll come with me.” You immediately step in. Flowey had been silent. You weren’t sure if that was normal or not normal for him.  
You’d just met him after all.  
After that, the guilt hung in the pit of your stomach like a dead weight.  
You should have told them. But that would, as you had put it, put everyone in the room in a panic.  
You’d learned those kinds of political standards from your father when you were able to comprehend the seriousness of the topic. About 13 or 14 you would say.  
You grabbed Flowey once more and looked to Sans. Should you ask him to bring you all up to the throne room? No... Not until the last day or two.  
No need to waste his energy for now.  
Undyne looked at you expectantly. It strikes you as weird at first until you realized that you were to lead the way. “Uh... lets... go I guess?” You shrugged and she gave you a toothy grin and a nod.  
It warmed you a little bit.  
So, you lead Undyne to that same spot in Waterfall. It was the most calming place in the entire Underground from your perspective. “So, mind if I pick your brain for a little bit, Nerd?” She asked suddenly as you both walked.  
“I suppose.” Your fingers absentmindedly trace the rim of the flower pot. “So, while we were able to watch you all, we can’t exactly see and hear everything.” She started. “I was wondering... what’s your relationship with Sans?” She seemed genuinely excited and curious.  
You hadn’t been expecting such a question, and you feel your face get warmer by the second. “W-Well... It’s complicated.” You weren’t sure how to respond. “Hey! It’s alright to be embarrassed and stuff! I remember when I started liking Alphys a lot too!” You sat down in the grass, letting Undyne proceed with her talk. “Man, you wouldn’t believe how weird it felt!”  
“What do you mean by weird?” you asked her in return.  
“Well, ya know, normal first crush stuff! Like, sometimes I’d get kinda nervous, or I would mix up my words and such!” It did sound like a first crush kind of scenario.

“Alphys means a lot to me. We barely even got into a relationship though because of...” her sentence trailed off into nothing. You already knew why though. “Anyway... I can see it in Sans sometimes too!” She immediately let the dark thoughts float away. “W-What makes you say that?” You weren’t sure whether or not you wanted to know the answer though. “N-Never mind I don’t wanna know.” You immediately backed down.  
“Are you sure~?!” She asked with a sing-song voice at the end. You waved her away and she just chuckles. But, the weird feeling of delight makes you smile.  
You had never really had a ‘girl-talk’ per say. You didn’t really get too many friends due to your early announcement of the engagement. All the other girls thought you had... cooties. You internally cringe at such a childish thing.

“Alright! Let’s get to this magic stuff before we get too sidetracked!” Undyne stands back up and begins stretching. This confused you, as it wasn’t like she was going to be doing much of anything. Right?  
Wrong. She pulls you up with her might and she immediately stands in a stance of sorts. “W-What are you doing?” You gripped Flowey’s pot tight, making you realize that he was still in your arms. You’d forgotten because of how silent he was. Huh.  
“You do realize this isn’t that kind of magic, right?” You say. She waves your words away. “Well DUH! But trust me on this!” She says, “I trained plenty of monsters about their magic while in the guard! It’s not all attacks obviously!” She says.  
That struck you as interesting.  
You set Flowey some distance away. “So are you just going to leave me here then?!” He finally spoke, startling you a bit. You pat his petals, again he grumbles. “You’ll be okay. Besides, unless you can assist with this some way it’s better that you are here instead of at the lab.”  
You could tell he silently agreed with that.  
You took a deep breath and walked back over to Undyne.  
“Okay Punk! Let’s start!” She rubs her webbed hands together in preparation. She walks closer.  
“So, when it comes to your magic, it’s all about energy flow!” She grabs your palms.  
“The only way you can get your energy flow going is through, as Sans had sort of explained, through emotion and intent.” You looked at her puzzled. “Why is that, by the way?” You asked. Since she was acting as your teacher, you might as well get some questions answered.  
“Well, your magic emirates directly from your Soul! Your soul is what harbors everything that makes you... you!” She points to your chest, releasing one go your hands.  
“So, the only way to draw out that energy is by letting out its source, per say!”  
Wow. Undyne was surprisingly good explaining some of this. You watched as she takes your hand again. “While you have already gone pretty big, you’re taking it pretty fast. A lot faster than normal.” 

“Well, haven’t exactly had the time to get to the tedious practicing just yet.” You say shyly. “Yeah, I get that. I’m guessing we have less time than Sans and Alphys think, right?” She asks. You look at her, almost amazed. “It was written all over your face!” She comments, and you chuckle, almost darkly.  
“It’s alright, we won’t get into that for now.” She gives you a nod. You give her a small smile in return. “Okay, so in order for me to even conjure up any magic, I need to put emotion into it. That’s where intent comes in, right?” You asked. She nods. “Exactly! While emotion is one of the key factors in magic, without a filter of sorts it can be dangerous and all over the place!”  
“So, for attacking, you’ll have to have the feeling of needing to cause harm. But, you need to have the intent of whether you want the harm to be light-hearted or the real deal. Make sense?” She asks, making sure you were still with her. You nod. “So, what about other kinds of magic?” You asked. 

“Well, usually it can differ from the type of magic.” She looks down at your bare hands, and you follow her gaze quizzically. “Yours is the rarest of the rare, so it might be a bit difficult for me to help you. But every magic has a common ground!” She gives you a big smile. “So, for instance, Healing magic would need the feeling of kindness and compassion. The intent well... The intent is really the same thing but with more focus on it.”  
“But there is always feeling no matter the type of magic!” She holds up her pointer finger to demonstrate her point. She releases your hands finally and backs up a little. “Now, the trick to perfecting it is to start out with attacks. That’s why it’s important because it is the superlative practice tactic!” You watch as she focuses herself. And in the blink of an eye, she conjures up a bright blue, glowing spear. You watch, amazed by its energy and mysteriousness. You felt like a kid that just watched their friends do something cool.  
That’s what it felt like anyway.

“I used feeling to bring out the energy from my soul!” She explains, “Intent comes with the attack itself!” Her words were always expressed with a fit of elation.  
She throws the spear your way, causing you to jump and hide your face with your hands. Of course, when nothing came all you could hear were the laughs of Undyne. “Relax punk! I missed purposely!” She had her hands on her hips. She looked lanky at first glance, but the biceps were evident once you gave your eyes time to adjust. Not only that, but you could faintly see abs beneath her shirt.  
It was... intimidating.  
“Oh... hehe...” you sighed.  
“But, I’m not even sure if I even have an attack. I'm supposed to be an ‘Angel’ of sorts. I can hear and play god pretty much.” You say. “Well, if you have any kind of magic, you have an attack! Some people just choose not to try it because they feel they won’t need it!” That got you thinking.  
But not for long. “Here.” She approaches you once more. This time, she does not make physical contact. “I want you to close your eyes and think of something that may anger you or annoys you. Imagine you have someone who is trying to stop you from doing something really important!” She goes behind you to help encourage you. You shut your eyes, squeezing them to make sure you don’t accidentally peek through your lids. You were to imagine something or someone that would upset you to be blocking your way to... victory maybe?  
You needed an offender and an end goal.

 

You felt like you had opened your eyes to see again. You knew it was only your imagination, as you were somewhere else in this vision. But, the sounds of Waterfall still lingered to make yourself sure it was truly your imagination. In front of you was... Oh, who do you hate? Or even dislike? Someone that could cause you to destroy your goal...  
Yourself...  
It was a whisper in the back of your head. You knew it was entirely plausible. Could you fight yourself physically? No. But, this was an image made entirely up to your mind. It was fantasy. But, it probably wouldn’t help you with real-life scenarios. Maybe...  
. . .  
There it was. It was a weird kind of dislike for this person. You had no true image of what they looked like. So, it was really more like a shadow. A human... Wait, No. The human. That sparked something in you.  
Something fiery and it almost burned. “Intent! Don’t forget Intent!” Undyne's voice could be heard. You bit your lip. Feeling without Intent could lead to a dangerous place. What was your intent? Did you want to necessarily hurt this person physically or just scare them off?  
Would scaring them off be the right option or would that only draw them in further?  
You thought about the effects of this humans ignorance and torturous ways. They’d killed almost the entirety of the underground. The death of their king, their family, their friends...  
Not only that, but it has led to this situation. It led to your need to get to this end goal of yours. The surface without any fatalities. It was a daunting task, but it was one you had embraced.  
You weren’t going to let this one thing stop you from moving forward.  
No more doubts. No more hiding. No more pain and suffering.  
These thoughts bring you to one conclusion...  
Your intent is to cause enough harm to show you are a power to be trifled with. Your intent is to hurt until you can no longer see them in your way.

“Good...!” Undyne's voice booms. It’s like an echo in your head. “Open your eyes!” You hesitate at first, but when you do open them, you realize that you are holding something.  
You were gripping onto a pole-like object. The pole part was thicker than a pencil, but not as thick as a flashlight. It was also this odd black color. Your eyes trailed upward and you were almost blinded by the intensity of the magic. It was a scythe. The blade part was a bright white magic that sparked every once in a while with the tiniest popping sound you would have ever heard.  
It gave you a sense of satisfaction.  
“Wow, that things pretty intense! But pretty fucking cool!!” Undyne crossed her arms with a smirk. You found it ironic that an ‘Angel’ would carry the weapon of a scythe. You brushed it off.  
“You’re a quick learner!” Undyne piped up. “Oh?” You say. “Yeah, most of the beginner monsters I tried this with had finally done it on their second or third try. Every now and then I’d get someone on their first try. But it was rare!” She analyzes out loud. 

The both of you stared in awe at the scythe until your adrenaline finally died down and you let it disappear with another tiny ‘pop’. “Do you get it now though?” she asks me. You looked at her.  
You had felt it run through your system. It was an energy that normally would have burst out like it had the first time you tried to heal those flowers. But, you felt you already had a better grasp on your magic and how to control it. “Yeah... I do.” You say with a smile.  
“Great!” She gives you a thumbs up. Which you return, of course.

“Maybe I’ll get to actually teach you how to use your attacks in the future!!” She seemed stoked to be my new teacher. It made you happy. “Yeah, but first we have to make it to the surface alive.” You comment. “True true... But I know we can do it!” She was happy, which rubbed off on you immediately. The mood was addicting. It was definitely just what you needed to brighten up such a bleak position. You could become close friends with this monster!  
The thought sent a smile to your lips.  
A real friend. One you could share stuff with and feel like you don’t have to hide something from them.

That... was the most comforting thought you have had in a long long time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was long. 10 pages worth of one scene. I just want to be able to explain everything clearly that I want to be made clear not only to you guys but reader herself. 
> 
> HEY! Are you about to click away from this page? If so, stop! (Or don't but I would appreciate it)  
> I have a question for you guys regarding the story!  
> I'm not sure how popular Papyton is (Papyrus x Mettaton) but I know that some people like the ship and others don't. Me personally, I like the ship as something cute and innocent but I refuse to read or write any smut with papyrus involved!! He is just far too innocent for that stuff okay?
> 
> Well, I was wondering if you guys would like me to (for future chapters) make Papyton a thing.  
> Again, I could go either way, I just won't write anything that I feel is too inappropriate for Papyrus.  
> So something small and cute that could appear in the future. Again, it's really up to you! So if you do or don't want this ship included in the story then tell me in the comments!! I need to know if you want it or not so seriously please comment. I want to appease as many people as possible so if there are more comments saying one thing than the other I will adjust the story to help pertain to you guys!
> 
> I thought about making a poll of sorts but I am very tired xD  
> So, please please PLEASE comment what you want!
> 
> Other than that, we're good! Have an awesome day you guys!!!


	6. Reminiscent Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader resurrects the next Soul and lingers on some old memories.

That night you slept like a... well you shouldn’t say, baby, because let's not got into how incorrect that metaphor is! No, you slept like a fully grown adult after a long day at work. To put it simply... you slept hard. All that magical stuff with Undyne had worn you out. So, you ended up going to sleep earlier than the night before.   
The next morning you were fully refreshed and absolutely ready to take on reviving someone. It would be work, but at this point what wasn’t?  
You watched as Undyne and Alphys chatted over by her desk. Alphys seemed to be much brighter ever since you had brought Undyne back. And while it was great to restore hope in your friends, you still felt weird about doing something like this. You always described it as playing god because, well that’s what you were doing. You could bring back the life of someone that had previously died. That was... terrifying in of itself. The phrase ‘playing god’ didn’t even sound correct anymore. You knew that once you had gotten those souls back to life that, hopefully, you’d never have to use it again.

“Ready nerd?!” She asked you with that signature grin of hers. Her teeth were sharp with a tint of yellow. That must be a fish thing. Or not. You mentally shrug.  
“Yep!” You say with a smile. So, we went back to the same spot as usual in Waterfall. It was open enough to give you both some space and calming for things that required focus. It was perfect.  
“Okay, lesson number two!!” She held up two fingers.   
“Well... actually were probably skipping lessons so it’s more like number 10 or something!” You both don’t argue with that statement. You look over at a bored Flowey. He looks into your eyes, only to rip them away immediately.   
Was he brooding?  
Whatever.  
Doesn’t matter right now.

“So, this is the part where I might not be able to help as much, but I’ll do my best!!” She gives you a thumbs up. You nod understandingly. “Alphys said that in order for this to work, you’ll need a firm grasp on the emotions of whoever you are reviving. Meaning that you’ll need to make some sort of emotional connection with them!” How do you make an emotional connection with someone you don’t even know?  
“Just like when you got really excited, it must have released your energy without your consent because-”  
“I was only putting feeling into it... right?” You say. She nods. “Yep! Exactly!”  
“So in order for me to conjure up someone, I need to know who they are as a person and relate in some way. In a strong way at that.” You rambled out loud. “How do I do this if I don’t even know them on such a personal level?” You asked her directly this time.   
“Uh...” She thinks about that for a minute. “Well, I could try explaining their personality as best as possible!” It might work, but there was no telling.  
“Alright, sounds good I guess.” She squints at you a moment. “So who are we going to try and bring back today then?” She asks. It was actually up to you. You were the one performing this whole debacle. Let’s see...  
I’m almost positive I haven’t met EVERYONE yet. Which is troubling but can definitely wait.  
There’s Toriel, Mettaton, and Papyrus...  
Would Sans appreciate it if I brought back Papyrus? From what I can tell, he has some strong emotions. Would that make him easier or harder to conjure up?  
You weren’t sure. “Papyrus?” You said it more like a question than an answer. “Okay, well, Paps is... one of the best monsters you’ll ever meet really!” She seemed to know Papyrus well.  
“Papyrus has a soul of Kindness! He is this big ball of sunshine in fact!” She explains, “Paps is the most innocent and caring person I know!”

“He loves his friends, he’s stubborn as hell, never backs down!!” The admiration could be seen in her eyes.  
But behind those eyes, you could see that this conversation could trail down a dark path. What this... previous human had done has left a giant unwanted gash throughout the underground.  
Even the most determined monsters could not break this human, which begs you more questions. Undyne could have you dead in a heartbeat. You could’ve easily been snapped in two right now. So how the hell did a human CHILD defeat an onslaught of powerful monsters?  
There’s more to it. So much more than you couldn’t dare meddle with at the moment.  
Right... this very moment you shouldn’t be thinking about this.  
Papyrus wouldn’t be so depressed right? He’d keep his chin up.  
He’d encourage others that everything would be okay and that we could all get through this. It was at that moment that you realized Papyrus would be hard for you. You tended to have such revolting thoughts of your failures and death and...

Your own thoughts want to make you throw up sometimes. You wish you were lying about that.  
So, what in the world would your emotional strive have in common with his? Something intense and vehement.  
“How good is Papyrus’ connection with his brother?” You asked suddenly, also realizing you had gone awfully silent.  
“Sans? Hm... Well, they love each other! Sure Papyrus nagged on him for his laziness and puns, but their brotherly bond is strong!” She says with confidence.   
That was good...  
Wait did she say puns? You had never heard Sans tell a pun before. The way she said it made it sound like it was a reassuring thing that happened. He must not use them anymore after... Yeah.  
“Although...” Her tone suddenly changed a little. “Papyrus would sometimes talk about how Sans would lie a lot about things. Like things Sans didn’t want him to know or learn about. It made me mad, but for Sans to keep something from Papyrus meant it was something that might effect Paps, ya know?” She sounded like she was rambling now. You don’t blame her. “Besides, Sans is the older sibling despite their height difference. And while some things he does I don’t agree with... I have no right to meddle with his personal stuff.” She let out a brief sigh.   
“But Paps never let it get to him too much from what I could tell!” She let her mood pick up at that note.

Sans hid things from Papyrus... Was that something you could connect with? Probably not if what Undyne said was true about it not getting to Papyrus. Of course, it could have torn the poor skeleton to pieces on the inside.  
You felt bad for Papyrus, and you could definitely relate to that. People lying to your face was practically every day upon the surface. Though, it reminds you how not once have you been lied to by the monsters. That was comforting.  
But, the emotion wasn’t strong enough.   
“I-I’m not a very happy-go-lucky person when it comes down to it.” You admit bashfully. “I’m just having some difficulty figuring out some kind of emotion that I could possibly latch onto.”  
The pregnant silence takes over immediately.   
Papyrus was going to be harder than you thought...  
“Maybe we should start with someone simpler then!” You kind of wanted Papyrus back for the sake of reuniting the brothers. You waved it off, seeing as you can’t push yourself into something you aren’t capable of comprehending just yet.

“Okay, what about Mettaton?” Undyne asks. Mettaton... You recall his robotic figure. You remembered how confused you had gotten about his gender as well. “Mettaton... well I don’t know too much. But, he always loved being on camera! He likes having an audience! He can be pretty flamboyant, but he knows when to shut up when it’s absolutely possible!” Undyne finishes.  
You groaned in response. “I hate having an audience. I would take anything BUT that.” You laid back, your bare arms and shoulders feeling the cool, thin strips of grass. It felt delightful.  
But, the task at hand still left a bitter taste in your mouth.  
“Well, Toriel?” She asks. “She was the queen before the terrible incident many years ago.” That caught your attention, so you sat back up straight. “What incident?” you asked.  
“Well, a long time ago, King Asgore and Queen Toriel had a kid. I think their name was... Asriel.” The name made your hand twitch. It went unnoticed, but you had no clue why it had even happened. “Anyway, later on, they adopted the first human child that fell into the underground!”   
You stayed silent so you could fully grasp everything. “So, the two quickly became the New Hope of the underground! But, it was short lived after the two kids came up with a... rather ambitious plan.” Her voice was solemn again.  
“I... don’t want to go too into detail about it. But, in the end, both children died right in front of their eyes.” This conversation went from burdensome to somber and grim.

“Neither of them took it lightly obviously, which ended with the both of them separating because Toriel disagreed with Angoras way of grieving per say. It got the entire underground in fumes because... it was the human's fault.” That struck a nerve. Of course... It’s always humans. We can’t ever just be friendly, can we?   
“So, long story short, Toriel has been living alone in the RUINS for quite some time until... well the human before you.”   
That home in the RUINS was hers... It was exactly as you had thought it to be...  
A family home has gone wrong. But what brought it to so much... damage?  
Undyne clears her throat. “Anyway, Toriel, despite her past, is very kind and gentle. She isn’t as... bombastic as Papyrus, but she loves children and is very protective!” You were thankful that she brought the mood back up a bit.   
You thought overall this new information. It was a lot to take in, and it gave you more unanswered questions. Most you might never get the opportunity to get answered. 

What could you relate to there? You were never good with children older than 5. Now babies, oh you loved how cute babies were. They were easier to take care of and so tiny it just melted your heart!  
You babysat for some of your neighbors at one point when they had first gotten their first child. Oh, how small and sweet that newborn was!  
That weird delight left you a nice warmth in your chest.  
You were, however, very gentle. Or, at least you usually were. You weren’t as vivacious as Undyne or Papyrus or even mettaton. It ’s a surprise that I was even able to get Undyne back to the world of the living.  
Maybe you just needed something to push you into these emotions. You had all of them in there somewhere, and you apparently didn’t need much for it to kick start.  
“I think I can work with that.” You say suddenly, and you could see the relief on Undyne’s features.  
“Okay so, now that we have that covered...!” She scoots closer to you. “Now let’s get to the magic stuff!”  
She takes my hands like she had just yesterday. “Your hands may not be as important for this as it would for attacks! So, just set these wherever is the most comfortable!” She says. So, you simply lay your hands down against your knees. “Great! Now, here’s the tricky part...” She said, a hint of nervousness in her voice, which was usually very bright and bold. “I mainly taught others about magic attacks and how to control them! But, because of the situation, there isn’t very much I can walk you through.”  
You ready yourself for what may be a bumpy ride. “As far as I have read and been told, you’ll need to have some sort of emotional connection with Toriel. It could be an ‘of the moment’ feeling or an overall understanding of an aspect of their life.” You think you understood what she meant by that last part. You weren’t a mother or wife, so those were immediately ruled out. From what you’ve seen and been told, Toriel is a lot more... collected, per say.   
You shut your eyes for better focus.   
“Remember what I said when trying to control and conjure magic!” She gives you a reminder, you merely nod. You take a deep breath, in and out.  
Toriel has been alone for a very very long time. That was something you two definitely had in common the loneliness. While I had other people around, being alone doesn’t necessarily mean alone physically. From a mental perspective, being alone means no one can be there for you on the same premise. Everyone is either oblivious or against you.  
Therefore, one would be alone. Oh how alone you were on the surface. For a while, you had a friend, but he quickly turned into your enemy. Well, not really an enemy. More like an obstacle. Not the point!  
How lonely I felt is what matters. I had no one to look to for help or even just someone to talk to. Everyone thought it would be some fairytale dream come true for you. But this man, while he may look like a prince charming, was far from it. You got a chill suddenly, and it frustrated you that nothing was working. I opened my eyes with a small grimace. “This sucks.” You admitted out loud, and Undyne just chuckled.

“Hey! Don’t get so down in the dumps punk! It’s gonna be okay!” She gives you that toothy grin. “Yes well, not to be a negative Nancy or anything, but about 6 days to do this is not okay.” You were already tired of thinking about the time. How much was wasted and how much faster things could go...  
But you couldn’t help yourself. For almost your entire life, all you knew was the worry, stress, and anxiety. So when something got to be too much, you became a turtle. Hiding in your shell, if it was possible. But you couldn’t hide in your shell with the marriage and you can’t hide in your shell with everything that is going on now. It makes you upset.  
It makes you want to cry...  
So. fucking. bad.

Your emotions were starting to surge up again. It swelled from your chest and out through your body. It was... a lot.  
If it weren’t for your surroundings and your friend nearby you would say you’d have had some sort of anxiety attack.  
But, it was such a depressing power that it was easier to take over your body. It was happening, wasn’t it? Or, at least, it was on the verge of happening. Last time, no one was around to get hurt or at least blinded by whatever happened. This time, Undyne was literally inches away from you.  
It’s starting to dull now.  
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.  
You lie back in the grass and shut your eyes.   
You need to be depressing apparently. Look through to your past.  
Where were you? Right, your fiancé. He was... okay. Overall as a person, he was just... okay. You definitely couldn’t see him becoming a father, let alone a husband. Nowadays he is all about what is best for his future. Deep down, he probably doesn’t mean any harm, but god he was a narcissist most of the time.  
You don’t remember him being that way before-hand. That thought made you sad.  
He was the one that had truly left you to be alone for so long. He stopped talking to you like a close friend and started talking to you like a co-worker. It was unsettling. Mainly because it came out of nowhere.   
He left you to your... “childish” thoughts. That’s how everyone saw you though. They all saw you as the child who never truly could grow up. Ask anyone beyond the gate and they’ll spill their guts out on their opinions. Because that’s what they do best. Gossip.  
That whole community could be so foolish. It only made you realize how alone you really were back then.  
You would people watch from afar. You grew quiet at school, starting to become less involved in social interaction. By the time you hit high school you just gave up on getting to know guys like the other girls were. Forced marriage isn’t that common. Even beyond the Gate. Which, by the way, only made you more resentful of your plight.  
Everyone else got a say in the way their lives would be. You did not. It was as if your life would be made like a cake. The instructions already set in place for you to follow. And while that thought left an unflattering taste in your mouth,  
it also let your magic flow more smoothly to your fingers. You could feel it as if the magic were in your veins.   
It was... exhilarating. But, something much stronger crept inside of you. It was something... dark maybe?

Sorrow? Yes, possibly.  
But, there is this sense of...  
Anguish.   
That’s it.

You watch as a ball of light begins to exhibit from your palms. It would get bright, then dull down. And with every flash, it got brighter until it took over entirely. You need to control it. But, it’s hard. If you focus too much on the control then you will lose the connection, but if you focus merely on the connection you’ll go out of control.  
The balance is frustrating as it is. You have emotion, you just need intent. Right?   
How do you put intent into this kind of magic? Your intentions are clear. Revival.   
Yes!  
To revive Toriel. Give her life again, let her magic conjure up into one being once more and restore what has been lost.  
That sounded very... poetic.  
You want Toriel to have hope again. To be amongst loved ones on the surface. To have a life.  
No more loneliness. Because she will no longer be on her own...  
“Whoa...” You hear. And for a moment, you have to pertain the balance that you had kept. When you come back to reality, there is this circle of magic. Mixtures of greens making a large circle around you. It shined brightly as the energy went from your soul straight through to the earth. It felt different than reviving Undyne. Undyne’s revival had been more fierce and strong. This is more of a warm feeling. The magic is going smoothly through your being, flowing out like a small stream of water. It’s more careful and gentle.  
It’s relaxing...

And in the moment of all the energy escaping your body, the green magic begins forming a slow but steady circling motion, like a twister. You don’t see much after that. You were laying down, you breathing heavier than ever. You were still conscious thought. It was strange, but it sort of made sense. Undyne was very strong-willed, so, therefore, her being took more energy to be made.  
Interesting.  
You felt like you could barely move though. You hear chatting, but it is short lived as Undyne comes into view just above your face. “Still breathing punk?” She asked. You let out a much-deserved sigh. “Well, at least I know you’re kind of a smart ass when you’re tired.” She joked, and you let out a small chuckle. She looks at you for a moment before another face comes into view. A fluffy one. The white fur looked so soft, and her eyes were filled with a calmness. Though, she seemed concerned about you as well. “Oh dear... Are you alright?” she asks. You give a curt nod. “I’ve gone through worse.” You comment, your voice finally finding itself. Undyne holds out a hand, and you take it. She helps you up off the ground, even though your limbs feel like noodles. You almost fall over a couple times either misstepping or falling asleep. Undyne then pulls out what you assume to be a phone and starts talking to someone over it.

Though you already knew who that would be, you didn’t care. You leaned up against a cavern wall to keep yourself standing. You felt a little nauseous, so you closed your eyes for as long as possible. “Are you sure you will be alright, dear?” You open your eyes back up. You give Toriel a small smile. “I know using that much magic can be quite awful.” She adds. “I’ll be alright. I think a nap will do me some good once we get back to the lab.” You respond.   
“Alright, let’s go. Apparently, they’re pretty close to finishing NEW CORE so that’s a plus!” Undyne says happily.   
Toriel seemed to like Undyne’s positivity and upbeat persona.  
God this week was going to be hell...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't exactly the BEST chapter in my opinion, but at the same time, it was necessary for its own ways. It's been an entire month since I last updated. Ended up taking a surprise trip to Florida after coming close to finishing this chapter so... yeah :P  
> Also, I'll be changing the 'POV Change' thingy. I know a lot of people have been wanting me to fix that for a while and I'm FINALLY getting around to doing it!  
> Sorry for the long wait, I'm really trying I swear!


	7. It's the Beginning of the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desirae can't sleep very well and things are starting to get serious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there guys! This chapter isn't as long as I'd like it, but I've been dragged around the Northeastern side of the U.S. for family matters! Though this past trip I was able to write, so here it is! It's not as informed as I wanted, but ya can't win them all! I try to post a chapter before the one month mark hits if you haven't noticed yet, that is.   
> I have a hard time writing while riding in a car because I get MAJOR motion sickness. So here I am, nauseous as all get out xD
> 
> Hopefully, I can get the next chapter out sooner! However, there is a lot of drama going on in my family, so I'm not sure it will be anytime this next week or so. If I get really into my writing, I might end up lying to you and myself and posting something the next day xD We'll just have to see! Sorry for the report! 
> 
> Enjoy~!

It’s this gray tint all over. All you can see are the gray landscapes of the dead. Their dust blowing against the empty winds without any fight. It made you shudder. No one was around. It’s just you. Is it just you? Are you even... you? Wait... who are you again? You look down at your hands. Yes, those are yours. They always have been. Whose else?   
You feel... reborn. And yet there is a deep dread hanging over you. Like a splotchy puddle of darkening, ink is infested in your soul. It’s uncomfortable. Why won’t it go away?  
Where did it even come from?

You hear the shuffling of feet through the mounds of dust. You turn toward the movements and see a skeleton. Papyrus. How do you know his name? Have you met before? You must have. PaPyRuS?  
You shake out of your thoughts, though you know they don’t truly exist. You try to speak to him. But why would you have done that? You can’t speak here. Dead people can’t talk. Are you dead? You feel alive. BuT yOu ArEn’T!  
Your mind feels like static as you watch the skeletal figure look your way. He gives you a small, curt smile. You don’t feel the need to do anything back. He whips his head around the otheR way. DoEs he hear sOmething?  
You CaN’t HeAr anyThinG.  
ThE sTaTiC gRoWs LoUdEr. 

YoU sHuT yOuR eYeS...

Once they are open, you feel slightly better. But it will ReTuRn.  
Papyrus Looks to you in concern. Then, he takes his index finger and slides it against his throat...  
His skull slides off his structure, falling to the dusted ground like an apple falling from a tree. The head lulls and his body slouches, dust spilling from his spine. You feel yourself spilling tears-

BuT yOu CaN’t FeEl AnYtHiNg

\- - -

You wake up sweating, aching, crying... Everything is this dizzying whirlwind of vision. Shapes and colors merging and confusing your brain. Where are you? You close your eyes, backing up into the couch.  
The couch? Yes. You’re sitting on the couch. Alphys’ couch. You sleep there. You open your eyes and see the same old room you always slept in. You’re in Alphys’ lab. You look to your left, but there is no yellow flower sitting in a flower pot. It’s an empty table. You take a moment to stabilize yourself. Letting you take in all the extra color in the world that wasn’t there in that dream of yours. It was gruesome all on its own.   
The dusted background just added to the cruelty of it all. You steady yourself as you stand to your feet. You can’t sleep.  
You feel tired, but you can’t sleep anymore. Not after that. You exit the room and you are immediately met by a sleeping Sans sitting at the desk outside. You stare for a moment. Everyone can sleep so much better than you apparently.  
It’s funny how ass-backward that would have sounded on the surface.

But the joke itself feels lost.

You approach the sleeping figure. Oh yeah, he is out cold. You see tape on the side of his face and your eyes squint in confusion. There’s a pair of glasses that seem to have come off with his sleeping skull on the hard table. Had he really taped the glasses to his face? The thought makes you chuckle. Your eyes wander down to what he might have been working on. The smile drops as you see the name ‘W.D. Gaster’ Written in bold letters on some old newspaper. You slip it out from underneath the sleepy skeleton, careful not to disturb his slumber. 

‘W.D. Gaster, royal scientist, dies in fatal accident.’

‘With the several attempts at reaching a conclusion to breaking the barrier, the royal scientist - Doctor W.D. Gaster - dies due to a freak accident with his research. As of now, no one really understands how this happened, but monster-kind is devastated. This leaves one last question as to where this leaves us-’

“doin’ some light readin’ in the middle of the night huh?” You jump at the voice. Quite frankly, it was the first you’d heard since that chaotic dream you just had. Your voice was probably hoarse from lack of use. Sans was staring up at you from his chair. You slowly slip the article back to him. “Well… so were you.” You say after clearing your throat. “heh.” He says, leaning back in his chair.   
“so, ya have another dream?” he asks, changing the subject. Clearly, he wasn’t up for discussion on the topic of Gaster. You don’t blame him really. Though, it still makes you curious what his connection might have been to the former scientist.

“How could you tell?” I ask, possibly with a hint of sarcasm.   
He hums thoughtfully. “ya have that… look in ya eyes.” He gestures toward my face with one finger. “it’s a familiar look.” You sigh at that last comment. It was sad but true. Though, something about this one just rubbed you the wrong way. Those images flashing through your mind could bring shivers down your spine every single time. You let the silence fill the room for a little. You should really get to work on reviving souls. With so little time, you aren’t sure if you’ll make the deadline at this rate. You weren’t even sure if it were to be considered day just yet. Honestly, you highly doubt it.

“I think… I’m going to head back to Waterfall. Start early.” He gives you a concerned and surprised expression. “eh… if we were goin’ by exact surface time right about now, it would be like… one in the mornin’!” He stresses. You nod. “Yep. No time to waste.” I say, turning around and beginning to walk down the escalator. “wait wait wait! at least let me get ya there.” Sans says, stopping you in your tracks. You didn’t really feel like picking up any fights at the moment, so you simply nod and let him do his thing.

Sans teleports us to Waterfall. Honestly, the place had been so memorized in your head, that small differences would have been pretty damn noticeable. So, upon entering Waterfall, there was more than a small change… “Oh shit.” You cursed, totally in awe. Sans noticed it too. The scene in front of you was depressing. The flowers that were once glowing and beautiful were now faded and dying. There were pieces of rock that were slowly - but surely - crumbling from the ceiling. The waters were less bright and flowing. Now, they were a sickly green color, and it seems as though the amount of water is decreasing. It’s already started. You look to Sans with a worried expression.   
“We should check on the other towns first.” I say. “agreed.” 

Hotlands wasn’t much better. The amount of lava had decreased slightly, while parts of the land were beginning to erode away. More and more pieces of rocks had fallen from the ceiling. 

Snowdin had to show the most influential change.   
There were multiple puddles of water from the melted snow, and very little snow was left behind. There was no more winds or downcast of any kind. The undergrounds magic is being sucked straight out of the mountain. It’s already started. You don’t have NEARLY enough people revived though!  
“what the hell is happening?” Sans had actually pronounced the words correctly, which worried you even more. He turns to you. “desirae?” You don’t say anything. “this shouldn’t be happening for a while.” Sans pulls out his phone from his pocket. There were monsters looking around worriedly.   
“come on… pick up…” 

There were mumbles and whispers from all around. Snowdin had to be the most populated, right next to Hotlands that is. “Sans, forget calling Alphys. We need to have a meet-up anyway. If my assumption is right, things are going to have to be hurried along exponentially.” I say. And for a moment, I could hear the leader inside of me come out. You were raised to lead and yet raised to follow. The conflict was there. If whatever they were using up on the surface is what’s doing this - which it is - then we need to find a way to at least slow it down until the barrier can be broken, and everyone can evacuate.   
“wait, you know what’s going on?!” He seemed like he was ready to be betrayed or something.   
“Sans, we need to go, now.”


	8. *IKAYD!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like my work? Check out my second book series!

Hey guys! Sorry, this isn't a real chapter T_T I know, I'm awful.   
I'm currently back in school, plus some other personal things have come up. 

Not to mention, I just sort of needed a break away from the story to gather my thoughts and interest back.   
But hey! If you're still reading, then I'd like to let you know about my new book that I put out a week or two ago!

It's called "It Knocks at Your Door..." if you're interested in looking into it.  
You can also find it on my profile if that's easier!

I started up a new book in hopes to get my brain gears-a-turnin'.  
Plus, I liked the concept/Idea I had for it.

So please make sure to check that out! I feel like I write better and more thoroughly for that one for some reason... I don't know ;P  
If you read it, tell me what you think in the comments! 

Remember, comments are encouraged! ^_^  
Anyways, thank you guys so much for sticking around! 

I'll try and get a chapter in soon, but no promises!  
I'll be updating more on the other book, so stay tuned for that one!

BOI! :P


	9. The Belly of the Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mages and Monsters discuss their situation separately. However, there's always a bump in the road. Both know this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! It's been a while T_T  
> I kinda got a little writer's block, and just as it was relieving things started heading downhill in my personal life. Don't ya just hate reality? Anyway... ^_^;
> 
> It's currently 2:20 in the morning, but it was worth it to get this chapter out finally! The chapter consists of more dialogue than anything, so keep that in mind!
> 
> Check out my other book that's out! I post within a one-week time frame over there, so updates are more consistent over there! 
> 
> Okay, now that I've plugged my other story, enjoy! ^_^

The building seems quiet. Of course, that was only temporary as Sans rushes to get Alphys, which in turn gets up Undyne. Toriel is, however, the queen of monsters so she needed to be woken up. And Flowey couldn’t sleep with all the sudden commotion. “This doesn’t m-m-make any sense?!” Alphys paces, flailing her hands wildly in frustration and confusion. “The d-deterioration phase sh-sh-shouldn’t be put into place for a-another week or so…!” You hugged at Flowey’s pot. “Are you gonna tell them, or should I??” Flowey whispers to you. You sigh, then shrug. “I should…” You groan. You knew that lying to them was wrong, and now that everything is being put into motion the stress of it all was already there.

“Well, we must do something! Sitting here panicking will not resolve anything.” Toriel pipes in with leadership. “tori is right. whatever may be doing this isn’t going to stop by the looks of it. an’ the underground can’t hold itself up for too long.” Flowey sighs, annoyed. “Look, you guys are practically done with NEW CORE correct?” You ask Alphys. She nods. “The underground is held up through magic. Since OLD CORE has fallen, the new one should momentarily slow down the deteriorating.” You look to the fish monster. Her expression was serious and concerned. “Undyne, I know we said that showing your face wouldn’t be in the best interest, but we might have to contradict that now.” Everyone seemed very intent to listen to what you had to say. 

“If things get too hectic with the other monsters, you're in charge of keeping everyone calm.” She nods with a determined smirk. “B-But you’ve only revived t-two monsters! I-I’m not sure how well the machine will h-h-hold up long enough for you t-to use your magic on f-f-five more souls AND the barrier!?” Alphys panicked.   
That’s the main issue. You still have five more souls to revive. You’ve only ever met 4 people in the realm of the dead. “I need to be able to use more of my magic in one day. Raising the dead one person a day is taking too long.” You thought aloud. This was quite the conundrum. 

“that would mean making your body sustain more magic at a faster rate. the only way to do that - without leveling up - is through some sort of… controlled experiment. that’s… that’s dangerous.” Sans gives you a look. A knowing one. “Well, it’s that - or we all die basically.” Flowey remarks and Sans scowls. “We will not force this on you, my child,” Toriel says, her paws clasped neatly. “You have the option to say you don’t want to do this.” You take a deep breath. “I want to do this. And I need to do this.” There was no second thought to it. 

“O-Okay… but this still doesn’t explain w-what’s happening to the u-underground.” Alphys chimes in finally. Sans looks to you once more. You look back into his eye lights. They're soft and fuzzy looking. They hold… integrity.  
“There are people on the surface who… are looking for me.” You say finally. “Very… bad people.”  
“Wait, you’re saying that the HUMANS are doing this?! That doesn’t make any sense!” Undyne roars. You purse your lips with thought. “Humans have advanced technology to do so. I-I’m not sure what it is exactly, but powerful people can do powerful things. I wouldn’t put it past them…” You trail off, hugging the pot tighter. 

“If the humans are interfering, child, then there is nothing we can do but evacuate as soon as possible,” Toriel notes. You look around a little, regaining some stability. “I also don’t think it’s safe to be in the lab for too much longer.” You say finally. “with the ground eroding beneath the lab, there’s no telling how long we’ll have before we fall in just like OLD CORE did.” Sans agrees. “It seems like things just keep getting worse…!” Undyne groans in frustration, and you were sure everyone was right with her on that. The situation was way past ideal. You just... need more fucking time!   
But it seems that it hasn’t ever been on your side your entire life.  
So what do you do?  
You fight.

It’s all you can do.

Surface POV

The meeting was beginning. The eight of them in their higher class outfits, sitting in a circle at a roundtable. The place was lit by dim lanterns scattered about the facility. “If this is how you plan on fixing your mistake, then you must know that it will backfire.” Mr. Patrick J. Parkson. A man with a large bank account, a daughter who’s as dim as the lanterns and a hereditary hatred for monsters. He was a middle-aged man with judging, green eyes. “It will not backfire! Honestly, I don’t understand where you get your negativity from!” Julianna Johnathan. The woman was all about class. She was very beautiful, with her long flowing blonde hair and her gorgeous emerald eyes. She has a husband and a son, preparing for her soon to be daughter-in-law to return to the surface. “What if she isn’t ready?! What will we do then? Start from scratch for another few eons?” James Johnathan. The husband of Julianna. He owns one of the biggest tech companies in the nation. He also isn’t always the most loyal to his wife. But Julianna turns a blind eye… He himself was pretty good looking. He had dirty blonde hair, the darkest of blue eyes, but age was evident over his features. “The possibility is there, but if we did not make some course of action sooner or later then it would have ended up much worse.” Mrs. Caroline Evans. Mother of two children and wife to one man. Her money is the inheritance from her parents, but on her own, she’d go bankrupt fast. She’s a very light skinned woman with a lot of knowledge on manners and philosophy. However, that doesn’t say the same for her morals. Her hair was a short, curly dirty blonde and her eyes a piercing crystal blue.

“Dear, let’s not get too exaggerated.” Mr. Jasper Evans placed a hand on Mrs. Evans shoulder. Jasper is always about either optimism or business. He wore no facial hair, but he was a complete ginger. His blossomed, red hair contrasted well with his darker blue eyes. “Is it really an exaggeration though?” James piped in. Everyone hears a brisk sigh. “Well, the only way we’re going to find out is if we keep going through with it.” Anastasia Fredrick. Her husband is CEO of one of the most popular clothing brands. Her father - having recently died - bestowed upon her and her sisters an inheritance the size of three empire state buildings. She’s one of the Fredrick twins. Alannah is the other twin. “If we don’t then we build from it.” Alannah is one of the more logical people. Always five steps ahead of everyone. It’s why Alannah isn’t married yet because Anastasia married the first guy she saw. The twins are identical, so they share the same Raven black hair and playful greenish-bluish eyes.

“Would everyone just calm down…? I swear you all can be a bunch of bickering brats sometimes.”   
Lastly, there was Regina Wicker. The mayor’s wife. Regina was the only thing keeping The Order together. “Desirae will prevail. Our ancestors do not lie, Mr. Parkson.” Regina is a woman with silky, brunette hair and eyes sharper than anyone’s ever seen. Their color… well, there was none. They were a gray of dust. Her skin was fair, and she was one hell of a leader. 

The tension didn’t go unnoticed. “If things go according to schedule, The Angel will emerge and she will serve JUSTICE for all humans.” Regina inquired. “And what about Henry?” Julianna piped up immediately, “Where does that leave him?” An annoyed sigh booms over bluntly. “Please, that spoiled young thing will be fine! Once the girl proves her worth, things will go back to normal and the plans will continue henceforth.” Patrick leans back in his chair. “We can’t just ignore the fact that, if The Angel breaks the barrier before we can destroy any evidence of the monsters… This could mean bad things for what we stand for-“   
“And what is it that we stand for, according to you?” Alannah was interrupted by James. She scowled at the man with annoyance. “We stand for humanity. We stand for mages. We stand for peace.”

“The Angel won’t have the time to break the barrier. She wasn’t even aware of her position, at least before she fell into the dratted hole! And who is to blame for THAT one?” Anastasia crossed her arms. Regina weighted the option of stopping the conversation, but sometimes the bickering could solve an issue or two. It gave her time to weigh her options of the entirety of the situation. Meanwhile, Anastasia’s eyes were piercing at Caroline. “Oh, right! Because this is all my fault!” She seemed unpleased by Anastasia’s sudden attack. “Well, she DID run away from you!” She retorted. “Shut up! The lot of you!” Regina finally stopped it in its tracks. Everyone immediately stopped their argument. “Your fighting is getting us nowhere.” Regina finally sat down in her own chair, taking in a deep breath. 

“We're here today to discuss our game plan and our back up plan. We can’t make things go our way over time, but we’ll try our damnedest!” Her words had everyone nodding in agreement. “So, let’s say - somehow - the monsters survive. Meaning Desirae will have broken the barrier.” She looked over each of her associates. “How would we keep something so big quiet and away from the public? The media would be all over it if they found out.” James spoke first.   
Jasper was deep in thought as his wife piped up. “Well, there’s no telling how many are still left down there. There can’t be too many though, right?” Alannah chimed in, expressing her knowledge as soon as it opted. “Monsters, from what I’ve learned, have a hard time reproducing. In other words. There can’t be too many under there. Sure, probably more than what was sealed under the mountain...” She trailed off a little but didn’t hesitate to further her statement. “...but there would only be maybe a couple 30 more at most? And that’s if some were very lucky.” 

Everyone at the table seemed to take that information in. “Okay, so maybe if we fought them all off before they could come close to society? We all know that the mountain is still a ways away and if we were to fend them all off before they could come close...” Patrick suggested fighting. Regina thought it to be typical of him to want to dust them all before they even get another breath out of their captivity. “Monsters, while weak in comparison to mages, might still be unpredictable. Remember, if they DO happen to get their hands on a human soul then their power could grow to an unimaginable power.” Julianna inquired. Patrick just grumbles but doesn’t argue with her. “If we want to keep the peace within society, we must be strategic about it. Meaning nothing reckless, Patrick.” Regina nodded to the grumpy man. He just sighs and waves everyone off. This discussion was far from over.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading my story!  
> If you liked it drop a big fat kudos down below, and also comment your favorite part, your opinions, thoughts, etc.  
> Make sure to bookmark so you have easy access to the story to see when it updates!
> 
> You guys are the best...   
> so take care of yourselves.  
> Because someone really cares about you!


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